Come Back to Me
by Ryoko-nee
Summary: When Konohagakure has fallen to pieces and the rulers are oppressors, the future seems dark but a small flame burns. Note: Some spoilers in recent chapters. AN: Ch. 18 edited and reposted
1. From the Past to the Present

Title: Come Back to Me   
Series: Naruto   
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea. 

-------At the Academy, All: 15 years old-------

"What was that Forehead?"

"Sasuke's mine! So stop trying Ino-pig!"

The two girls glared at each other for the umpteenth time that half hour. Why fight over Sasuke? Naruto simply didn't understand them. Especially Sakura. She'd been on his team for four years and still cared for him. Then there was Ino, you'd think she'd be sensible enough to find another guy to like after so long. Naruto looked at the clock and inwardly cursed since there was no time to eat or time to swing. Class was about to start in two minutes and Iruka-sensei was never late coming back from lunch.

--------Flashback-Half an hour ago----------

"Leave him alone Ino-pig! Sasuke wants to sit next to me!"

"NO HE DOESN'T SAKURA!" yelled multiple girls.

"See Big Forehead? Now get this straight, he's not sitting next to you 'cause he wants to sit next to me!"

"So doesn't!"

"Does so!"

Naruto's head was ringing with the girls' angry voices and he couldn't concentrate on anything. 'Baka Sasuke, why do girls still like you so much after so many years?' He tuned out the voices, looked out the window and wondered whether or not he should go to the roof and eat, or stay outside and swing like he did as a child. Suddenly, he was trampled on by many feet.

The girls from his class (the Rookie Nine and some others were there for a special training program that was supposed to last two weeks) and from other classes clambered up and fought for Naruto's seat because as it happened, he was two seats away from Sasuke. Ino and Sakura however were right beside Sasuke and yelling and screaming at each other to move so that they could sit beside their 'Beloved' alone.

Naruto slowly crawled his way out between the girls' legs ('heh, I wonder how much ero-sennin would pay to be in this position... ow! My back! These girls are heavy!') safely and managed to stand up at the far end. Behind him stood a massive glob of female bodies shoving each other to get closer to Pretty Boy and Naruto simply sighed. He turned and headed towards the door at the back of the class.

He reached for the handle to slide the door open when suddenly Sakura and Ino perked his interest.

"Leave him alone Ino-pig! I've told you already, he's mine!"

"Oh really? And why's that huh?"

Sakura smirked and cockily said, "Because he's my one true love, not yours. He knows me better than you, he's been with me longer, and that's why I'm going to forever stay with him. I'm on his team and you're not, it was destiny."

"Right, you sound just like the old Neji with your destiny crap. Just cuz he's in your team doesn't make him your one true love."

"Oh? Well Ino, tell me, who is YOUR one true love?"

The silence in the room was amazing, everyone simply stopped moving and shouting. After a pause, Ino smirked right back at Sakura and replied, "My one true love is the first man that kisses me. Whoever that first man is, I'll devote myself entirely to him and to no one else." Slyly, Ino turned towards Sasuke and said, "Well, Sasuke, better kiss me soon!" and added a wink.

Then the room was filled with noise again with girls bickering once again. Sakura and Ino returned to yelling at each other about the same topic over and over again but funnily, as Naruto noted, Sasuke was looking at Ino with a different look for about a second before closing his eyes once again.

"For the bloody last time Piggy! He's mine!"

"What was that Forehead?"

"Sasuke's mine! So stop trying Ino-pig!"

---------End Flashback---------

Naruto sighed as he decided to take a seat near the back of the class. Next to him were Chouji and Shikamaru, each eating and sleeping respectively. He looked around and noticed the rest of the remaining male population and wondered how they could stand the constant screams around them. He looked to the clock and remembered that he had promised Iruka-sensei that he wouldn't be late for any of the classes (they were really interesting anyway, it was about new techniques and battle formations that some teams hadn't tried or thought of before) but his stomach protested. Naruto, returning to his old nature as a child, began to scheme for the next two minutes as to how to get out of class and eat his lunch.

------

"Ow!" Naruto's hands were hurting from holding two buckets of water outside the class. Two minutes ago, he focused really hard on a plan to free him from class and give into his hunger urges. It didn't do him any good.

**Plan**: teacher come into room, teacher get drenched in water (cold) and maybe some other liquid so that teacher a) screams, then b) runs to washroom to clean/dry off. If all happens well, me: "Naruto," will then sneak out and eat lunch on roof.

As it happened, the plan didn't work. After getting soaked with cold water, Iruka yelled at Naruto and made him go outside to stand with two water buckets. Now he was suffering the consequences... and his stomach wouldn't stop growling.

----------After 3 years-------

As a recap, Sasuke had betrayed Konohagakure (Leaf Village) by joining with Orochimaru in promise of power. He killed Orochimaru when Orochimaru tried to switch his body with Sasuke's (and was vulnerable then). Sasuke became the leader of Otogakure (Sound Village), grew in power, and eventually sent his village to attack Konohagakure. At the same time, however, Akatsuki attacked. Both sides decided on a deal, each group was to take control of only half of the village. This plan though, would not last long...

---------Brothel House---------

"But-"

"Tsunade, trust me, I'm fine, 'k?"

The busty woman sighed, looked over at the girl she considered a younger sister, and sighed once more.

"Tsunade... please, I'll be okay. Actually, I think that Sa-" the girl stuttered as she remembered how her friend looked after the 'meeting', "that Sakura could use your help and comfort now. She's alone and would probably appreciate your company. I'm doing it tonight but I'm... going to be alright. I'm just thankful that I didn't have to do it for the past two years. Now please go see Sakura? And say hi to her for me, would you?"

Tsunade sighed once more before nodding her head, hugging her little sister, kissed her on the forehead, then turned to leave the room. She turned back to look at Ino one more time then closed the door. She knew that no words could comfort Ino for what she was about to experience.

After the door closed, Ino settled herself into the bed as she waited for her first customer. She was angry, nervous, bitter, worried, and felt emotions that she never felt before all meshed into one ginormous sort of emotion.

'Filthy, that's what all men are, filthy. Bah! I've got to get my mind off this! There never was any point worrying about what was to come. I never did that as a chuunin, well, except for dangers and ways out. This one, I can't.' "DAMN IT," she cried out. 'I can't get out, if I do, Tsunade'll get in trouble and me too cuz I'm definitely gonna be caught.' "I HATE THIS!" she screamed once more, then she felt a bit better.

She turned her thoughts away and thought of the 'old' Konoha, which was only two years ago. 'Everything's... changed...'

There was Tsunade whom Ino felt terrible for. Due to her physical features, she was always called upon every night to perform her 'duties' to various men. In fact, she seemed to never get a break. From morning till night, she would have to serve the filthy ones with at most a fifteen minute break every five hours. She had come to Konoha two weeks before the attack to take the position of Godaime and was caught during the battle. She was captured when she fainted at the sight of blood coming from an illusion of her younger brother. Last night and tonight were the only two days she had a full rest because their Boss wanted to make sure that Ino would get used to the fact that this was all she'd do for the rest of her life till she died. Tsunade was there only to comfort and kind of 'prep' the youngling up.

Then there was the Rookie Nine who were split up, their teachers were missing, and everything was simply, too different. Yuuhi Kurenai, Hyuuga Hinata, and Tenten were in a brothel house not too far from Ino's, but it was difficult to send messages to and fro. She hoped that they were faring better than she and Sakura.

Sakura too was different, she no longer idolized Uchiha-ahou, for obvious reasons, but was broken inside. Especially two months ago... Ino shuddered. Those pigs had eaten away Sakura's mind and body and now, all Sakura did was cry or dream of being raped. It was usually the former since she'd rarely sleep. Ino and Sakura may have been rivals, but Ino would never have wished this upon Sakura. She sighed and kept flipping through her mind of the others.

The males in their teams and in Tenten's teams were all in various areas. She choked and teared slightly as she remembered Asuma-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, and Iruka-sensei. All four were reported missing, or in other terms, dead during the battle against Akatsuki and Otagakure. She forced the tears to stay in and swallowed her grief. It did her no good, but she thought of the four, mainly Asuma-sensei and Iruka-sensei though, almost everyday. Asuma-sensei had become the father of her team and it tore her apart to know that he was probably dead. She missed them a lot even though she didn't get to know the other two much.

Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji, Tenten's teammates, were missing as well. She wasn't sure whether to believe they had died, rather, she was sure they were in the Rebel Group somewhere. Actually, she was hoping for this as well for the four teachers. Ino knew that she would never accept the fact if they were dead because it just seemed impossible.

Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba, too, were reported missing. Ino was sure that they were a part of the Rebel Group and hoped that they were able to keep in touch with Kurenai-sensei and Hinata. They were practically siblings to each other and Ino knew that Hinata would be devestated if either of her brothers died, or even if Neji died.

Then there were her brothers, Chouji and Shikamaru, both leading Rebel Groups in unknown locations. She too was a part of it, but in her position, she couldn't do much so she was usually out of contact with them. The last message she had received was six months ago in her dinner (trapped in a measly dinner roll) telling her how both were doing but couldn't get her out anytime soon. This was in code, and Ino was thankful that they had set it up back when they were genins because another girl that passed her from behind saw the note, snatched it up, and gave it back to Ino with a puzzled and suspicious look. Ino was sure to be careful about the notes from then on.

The Uchiha... she didn't even want to think about him at all. 'Jerk.'

Then there was Uzumaki Naruto. Ino didn't really know much about him other than the fact that he used to be Konoha's #1 Loud Ninja and was the class clown (she chuckled at the memories of his pranks). He too went missing during the attack of Akatsuki and Otagakure and this caused Sakura to cry that much more when she learned of it.

'My parents...' Ino reflected sadly, 'perished in the war leaving me an orphan.'

She had cried and still did at times but she knew they were watching over her. She was sure of it. She looked at the ceiling (since there were no windows) and thought of her childhood, how she was daddy's little warrior and how mom was always worried about her since her mom never was a ninja. She had remained a house wife and a store keeper. Ino remembered fondly having come home once after school with a bandaid on her finger. Her mom freaked out saying that Iruka-sensei was an irresponsible teacher, having not prevented Ino's small cut. Ino tried calming her but it wasn't until her father came home that he calmed her mother.

**She'll have to take care of herself soon enough dear. Plus, it's just a small cut. **  
But it was from a kunai! What if she's out in the wild and cuts herself to death?   
**Come on, she has more sense than that, right Ino?**  
_ Hai, 'tousan! Don't worry about me 'kaasan, I'm a strong girl now!_  
** That's my little warrior. _(smile) _**  
Inoshi!  
_(giggles)_

Ino smiled at the memory then tensed suddenly as she heard footsteps outside the door.

------------------------

A/N: This is another, rather strange idea that popped in my head. I just hope that the formatting of the story at the beginning isn't too confusing. (sweat) ehehe


	2. Things Never Make Sense

Title: Come Back to Me   
Series: Naruto   
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea. 

------Last Chapter-------  
_Ino smiled at the memory then tensed suddenly as she heard footsteps outside the door._  
------------------------------------

She saw it open and in came a hooded man. The hood covered his face and made it seem as though there really was no one there until you saw his hands. 'So, he's a headless pig, great.' She knew he must have paid a lot of money to get her for an hour since she was still a virgin (those were near impossible to find) and all she felt was anger and rage towards him. Her face showed impassiveness, but inside she was boiling. She waited for him to touch her or bark orders at her, but she was stumped not knowing what to do when all he did was sit on the edge of the bed and stare at the floor.

After five minutes, her anger had vanished into pure confusion, she piped up, "Hey."

"Hi." The man's voice coursed through her and made her shudder, but not in repulsion. He had a rich baritone voice and not raspy as she assumed. She didn't smell any smoke or alcohol on him (which surprised her greatly). His head turned to face her (she figured with the hood pointing in her direction now) and she waited for him to order her around.

But he didn't.

Ino was becoming frustrated but figured that she had to do her job. Her Boss hinted that on any day, he would come at any moment to see whether or not she was performing her duties 'properly'. And today was her first day. She didn't want Tsunade to get into any trouble so she got up off the bed and went to kneel before the man.

She looked at his jeans and couldn't help but grimace. She really didn't want to touch him or have it happen vice versa, but she shakily moved her hands to undo his belt when he slapped her hands away.

"What are you doing?"

Ino stared up at his face (well, the hollow area) looking puzzled. "I'm doing what I'm supposed to do."

"How would you know? I didn't tell you to do anything."

Ino continued to stare up at him and sat on her feet (since she was kneeling) and continued to wait for him to speak. Minutes passed and she got irritated again.

"Well?" she asked hotly.

"Well what?"

"Aren't you supposed to bark out orders or forcibly rape me?"

"Do you want me to?"

"NO!"

"Then I won't," he replied coolly. Ino stared at him for the next minute until the man turned his head (the hoodie moved towards her again) and said, "Actually, could you hug me?"

Ino blinked in rapid successions and repeated like a parrot, "Hug... you...?"

"Yeah, you do know what a hug is right?" he snickered and Ino could have sworn that he was smirking.

She scowled but picked herself up and cautiously went to touch his shoulders. As soon as both hands were on his shoulders, without warning, he lifted his arms, grabbed her round her waist, pulled her down onto the bed, and positioned himself above her.

'I KNEW that he'd do something like this!' Ino said to herself angrily. During the quick movement, Ino's hands clutched onto the man's shoulders to give her stability, but now that she was on her back, she took them away and couldn't do anything else but glare at the man.

The man decided to shift their positions and suddenly Ino was sitting between his legs with her back resting against his chest. As he continued to position himself, Ino was -blushing- astonished to feel all the muscles behind her. 'This still supports the idea that he's a headless pig, but, he's a really muscular headless pig.'

'Hoodie', as Ino nicknamed him, after settling in, wrapped his arms around her and drew her to his chest. He rested his head atop hers and remained in that position for the next half hour. While sitting, Ino was able to relax for a few minutes (before realizing that she did and tensed again) but during those minutes, she concentrated and felt a strange flow of chakra in the man behind her. It had a dangerous feel but Ino remained silent. She couldn't concentrate on the feeling long because she was really confused about the whole ordeal.

Tick tock tick tock, Ino heard the clock and she couldn't take it anymore. Hoodie was confusing her so much! She wrenched herself away, turned around and looked straight in the black void (even close up she couldn't see a single feature of his face, NOW she was sure he was headless).

"Look you, you pig! You pay, I don't even know how much for me for an hour, come in here, and you're making me-"

"Sexually frustrated?"

"NO! Confused! ARGH! What's so funny?" she screamed. Midway through her sentence, Hoodie had started howling in laughter.

"Hahaha! So sorry Ino, but haha! you look so funny when you're mad sometimes. Cute, but funny haha!" and he kept on laughing.

This infuriated Ino and she proceeded to hit him with her clenched fists while yelling gibberish at the top of her lungs. It didn't even register that he knew her by her proper name and not her call sign 'Lily'. He took the 'beating' well but once again, he surprised her. He shut her up by pulling her to him and planting a kiss on her lips. It was short and sweet and he was the one to pull away. Ino stared into the space in front of her not seeing him but remembering nothing except that it was gentle and that 'THAT WAS MY FIRST KISS'.

Then the stranger got up from the bed and began heading for the door. When he was two steps away, Ino snapped out of her trance and called out, "Hey! Where are you going?"

Hoodie turned back to look at her and said, "My time's up Ino. But hey, before I go, I have a quick question for you." She nodded her head in response. "Was I the first to kiss you?"

Ino was surprised and unsure of how to answer the question. After a brief pause, she answered truthfully, "You're the first to give me a kiss other than family members on the cheek."

She actually wasn't sure why she mentioned her family when it could have been a simple yes, but she felt like she had to say something to this guy. She convinced herself that it was probably because he was the first guy she had as a 'customer' at the brothel, and because he was the first to kiss her.

Hoodie nodded his head and said, "I'm surprised though, two years and I'm your first kiss. I'm actually quite happy about that Ino-chan. Anyway, I'll see ya, and don't worry, I'll visit you at least once a month."

"Wait! What's your name?"

"Heh, you'll figure that out soon enough."

He closed the door just before Ino's sandal hit where his head would have been.

----------With Tsunade and Sakura----------

Ino looked at the two as they continuously paced across the room not noticing her. Both had their faces drawn tight to the point that Ino was sure they'd get permanent wrinkles after tonight. Rubbing her temples, she coughed and made her presence known. The other two jerked their heads up and looked at her before running over to her and hugging her. HARD.

"AIR!" yelled Ino and then the two women let her go but started firing out questions at her.

"Are you okay?"

"Are you hurt?"

"Do you hurt anywhere?"

"Talk to me, Ino! You must be in shock!"

"Are you bleeding?"

"STOP!" Ino shouted. The other two quickly shut up. "I'm fine."

Sakura and Tsunade looked at each other then said together bluntly, "You're not well. Come sit."

"What the crap are you two talking about?" Ino replied as she was pulled to her bed (all three were sharing the same room. It was tiny and there was a bathroom attached but was also small). "I'm perfectly fine."

"Ino, you can't be fine. You-"

"You just lost your virginity baka!"

Ino burst into laughter. Between her laughs, she squeezed out, "So that's what you guys are talking about! I'm fine! He didn't do anything to me."

Tsunade and Sakura looked at each other confused. Not do anything? That never happened inside 'the rooms'.

"What'd you do for an hour then?" said the puzzled Sakura.

"We hugged."

"You hugged..."

"Hai. I was leaning against his back. He was..." Ino remembered the kiss, "gentle. Well, okay, we kissed once and that was it."

The other two girls stared at her dumbstruck when suddenly their door flew open.

"Boss!" all three exclaimed.

Taking a quick look around, Boss said quickly, "Looks like all of you are fine. Good. You (he pointed at Tsunade), Sakura, Lily, you're all on duty tomorrow. No ifs, ands, or buts, you're all looking well so you'd better perform well tomorrow," he added an emphasis on the word better and then swiftly closed the door and the three girls were alone again.

'Crap...'

-----------Morning---------------

Ino woke to an empty room. The other two had already started work but since Ino was still new to it all, she would start working after lunch. 'Great, so I can hurl after or during the sex.'

It was ten in the morning and Ino was bored. She finished cleaning her section of the room that the three girls shared long ago in less than fifteen minutes. And that was after dragging stuff around so as to take up a few more seconds. She reminisced but it took far too much effort to try to stop crying ('Sheesh, I'm starting to act more and more like Shikamaru.')

She fiddled with her bracelets and cursed them at the same time. Though they were beautiful, their purpose was only to confine and restrict chakra, and movements. They were also the reasons as to why she could never leave the brothel. The same went for all the kunoichi that were in the building. All the previous female villagers didn't have them since well, they didn't even know the basics of how chakra worked so there was no fear of them breaking free.

Ino's bracelets were silver and wide, cuffing her arm from her wrist to mid-elbow range on both arms. Each were studded with red jewels and indigo jewels, and this added to their sex appeal. Sakura had multiple shorter ones, but they were studded with bronze and gold jewels. This indicated that she had more chakra than Ino, and finally, Tsunade had golden-plated bracelets and anklets, all loaded with diamond-looking jewels.

The number of jewels on the bracelets, the colour of the bracelets, and the colour of the jewels were used to indicate the bearer's chakra levels. The colour code started from weakest to strongest: red, orange, green, indigo, bronze, silver, gold, and lastly, diamond.  
The colours of the bracelets were simply silver and gold.

There were girls that had only silver bracelets on and no jewels signifying that they were weaker amongst the other girls with silver and jeweled-bracelets, and/or gold-plated bracelets.

And Ino hated it.

She hated the fact that she couldn't retaliate, couldn't fight against the owners and her masters. How she couldn't take the bracelet off and use all her chakra along with all the other kunoichi and kill the oppressors.

She hated how Akatsuki and Uchiha-ahou ruled over Konohagakure.

She hated everything.

----------3'oclock PM-----------

Ino was waiting in her assigned room for the fat business man she had to please. He'd paid for half an hour and she couldn't wait until it was over. She lay on her side facing away from the door even when it opened.

"Well well well, I've finally got you Lily. But come on, why are you facing away from me? I want to see your beautiful face," he said, making Ino shudder.

She turned around and successfully hid her disgust once she saw him. He was obese, fat rolling down in ripples even with his suit on. She smiled, exciting the man, and commanded him to the bed.

He sat on the edge, similar to the customer she had the night before, and from behind, she relieved him of his blazer and tie, but she kept the shirt on. She really did not want to see anything more. His arms extended past his t-shirt-like dress shirt and Ino easily saw his skin folding over itself. His belt was already struggling and putting up a good fight to keep his pot belly within his pants.

Ino managed to begin working on a slow massage on his shoulders.

'If I keep this up for half an hour, maybe I won't have to stay under this guy.'

But Fate was against her.

As soon as she put her arms on his shoulders, he grabbed her hands, and with surprising force, threw her on her back on the bed, and began to savagely rip her clothes apart. She screamed and tried to push him back, but he was far stronger. Her bracelets also weighed her down.

"That's it Lil Lady, you're mine! I didn't get you last night with that punk-ass brat outbidding me, but I still get you second! Give me a kiss." He crushed his lips with hers and Ino had started to cry. It wasn't supposed to happen this way!

In the next fifteen minutes, Ino's mind had shattered. The man had left, pleased with having shoved himself into a screaming innocent girl and was returning home to his wife to get double helpings. Ino lay on the bed, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling, and unknowingly cried.

Later, when the second customer came in, they left in five minutes and went to see Ino's boss complaining. They said that their servant was unresponsive and uninteresting. The boss answered that he'd check up on her and see what was wrong, and returned the customer's money, though unwillingly. He stomped up the stairs to where Ino was, slammed the door open, noticed her condition, and cursed aloud.

"TSUNADE!" he roared out and in a minute, Tsunade was carrying Ino back to their room.

Inside (the Boss had already left tending to other matters), Tsunade sat on Ino's bed and stroked her hair. Ino was curled up into a ball with her head resting on Tsunade's lap. she had stopped crying but her eyes were slightly open, unseeing, emotionless, and...

dead.

'Imouto...' thought Tsunade, 'what I would give so that you didn't have to go through with this life. You and Sakura, both. I'd work extra hours just to keep the two of you safe.'

But Tsunade knew that thinking this would never help. What was needed was action, but when she herself could barely run and lift only fifty pounds above her head due to the bracelets' restrictions, she was running out of hope. In a way, she was surprised that even to this point she was anticipating an attack from the Rebel Groups to release the captives within the forsaken building.

'Jiraiya...' Tsunade's eyes seemed to have darkened. Whereas the other men, like Kakashi and the boys like Chouji were reported on, Jiraiya was never given a status. He was neither missing, alive, or dead.

Being friends, Tsunade missed him terribly and then she realized that she was silently crying. She wiped away the tears but glanced down at Ino when she heard her whimper. At this time, it seemed as though Ino was sleeping, but was having a nightmare.

'I guess that's to be expected...' Tsunade sighed, but jumped slightly when the door suddenly slammed open.

"INO!"

"Shhh! She's sleeping!"

"Oh... sorry," whispered Sakura. "I heard what happened and I was really worried..."

"I understand."

Both women looked down at Ino's contorted face, surprised that she hadn't woken up, but disturbed nonetheless. Last night seemed too good to be true for Ino, but apparently, as the two girls realized, she was telling the truth. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been as broken as she was now, or even worked for that matter.

It was past midnight and Tsunade continued to stroke Ino's head, trying to give her as much comfort as she could as Sakura went to sleep. Ino had woken twice screaming then promptly falling asleep again. Tsunade was dropping off to sleep as well, but she managed to stay up for another two hours, knowing that it would affect her performance the following day, but who cared? Ino was far more important than those... beasts.

----------------------------------------------------

A/N: If you want NaruIno fluff hehe, check out Simple Smile ehehehe. As for updates on this fic, please don't expect one per day or week cuz even as high schooler, I'm busy. As for the month of July, I won't be here so... during that time, read something else? xD! But don't worry, I'll still upload a few more chaps before then hehe :D


	3. Seeing the Past and into the Future

Title: Come Back to Me  
Series: Naruto   
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea.

A/N: To Shinteo-5: Your question regarding Tsunade's appearance surprised me, I had completely forgotten about the fact that she used chakra to maintain her 'youthful' image. Since I hadn't considered that, I hope you don't mind going with the idea anyway. It's kind of like Jiraiya, he's really not ugly, but he's about her age (can't really say much about Orochimaru since he keeps switching bodies). So, Tsunade is probably going to look pretty much the same, but rather than looking like a 25-year-old, she has the late fourties look/early fifties look. Actually, I just finished read 1984 by George Orwell and at the very beginning, Winston (main character) confesses to having sex with a woman twice his age (she's about 50). Thing is, in their situation, everyone's poor except the Inner Party (one part of the government) so doing that is normal. In my fic, under the rule of Sasuke and Akatsuki, everyone's poor so having sex with a pretty but old woman is normal. Yes, I know that sounds messed up, just the way how Konoha is now.  
As for the man holding Ino, it's more like comfort than anything else. It'll be explained a bit later on.

To full-metal-sousuke: (sweat drop) This fic isn't really an innocent one (ehehehe.. sweat) and I'm really sorry that it disturbed you so much. I'll put up warnings next time so you can skip those parts. As for Naruto, we'll see ;P

To MoOn-ShInE-LoRd: 1) it's hard to type your name quickly xD 2) Thanks for noticing that I'm trying to use proper grammar ehehehe :) One reason why I wanted to write fics a bit is because well, a lot of them don't use 'English' anymore and use either spoken/casual or broken up English so I wanted at least a few more to be 'readable'. Hooray for being able to make up words too though lol! I'm glad to have given you a push into writing your own fic too )

To Everyone Else (literally): As said to full-metal, this isn't really an innocent fic, and from the chapters on my computer, the girls are gonna be at the brothel for just a while longer. I've decided however, to not put up anything graphic, 'k? (smiles) ehehehe

Now on with the fic:

----------4'oclock AM----------

Ino woke up not knowing where she was and slurred out, "'kaasan, 'tousan... where are we? Did you take me on another trip without telling me, as a surprise? Mou... I told you already, I'd rather be at home than going out on some 'wild' camping trip okay? Can we go home now?"

She remained in bed for who knows how long, but upon not hearing any answers but only light snoring, she stretched and found that there was something blocking her arms' path. She opened her eyes, rubbed them, then focused on the offending object. She poked it, her finger sunk in a bit. She continued poking it for a few more seconds before getting bored and looking up at the person (as she figured out).

Rather than seeing the face of either of her parents, she saw Tsunade-neechan instead. Then the flood of memories came back and caused her to upheave a bit. Taking a few minutes to calm herself down, Ino looked across the room over at Sakura and finally understood why they were so worried about her two nights ago.

'And to think I laughed when they asked how I was doing. I'm such a fool.'

Sakura mumbled a bit in her sleep and Ino was glad to notice that she wasn't having a nightmare like she usually did. Ino got off from her bed, draped a blanket over Tsunade, and went to do her morning routines.

By the time she came out (it was nearly five thirty), the others were awake and as soon as they saw Ino, they rushed to her and hugged her. They stood there, in the bathroom doorway for at least five minutes before they released each other. No words were needed, just being together was comfort enough.

Tsunade, being the older sister figure, pulled the two back in, one per arm, and rested her head atop Ino's. Sakura stirred after a moment's peace and asked Ino quietly, "You feeling better?"

"Sakura-"

"No, it's okay Tsu-neechan, what is it Sakura?"

"I... just... okay it's a stupid question, but do you feel at least a little bit better?"

Ino turned her head to face her surrogate sister but she could not manage a smile. "Well, I'm... still not feeling well... I-I-" then she broke down and cried.

Ino fell to her knees and cried into Tsunade's chest as she came down to hold her. Sakura dropped to her knees as well but could only rub circles on Ino's back. Sakura too was crying, but they were tears of hate.

'Stupid stupid stupid! First Tsuna-neechan, then me, now Ino. Why are we even in here in the first place? We're kunoichi, we should be fighting back, but we can't with these stupid bracelets. I'm just so pissed, especially at Uchiha. I can't believe I obsessed myself with him. I was blind, but it was plainly obvious that he never liked me ever since our days at the Academy. Damn... everything's falling apart!'

Tsunade noticed that Sakura had stopped rubbing circles and decided to clench and unclench her fists instead. Her shoulders were shaking in her rage, but oh, if only Sakura were able to unleash her strength. Instead, all her anger was being absorbed by the jewels in the bracelets that were currently glowing brightly.

Once again the door unexpectedly (though the three girls were growing accustomed to it now) flew open and in walked their Boss. He walked straight up to Ino, told the other two to go to work, and as soon as the two left (after taking a few extra minutes to talk to Ino), he threw her on her bed.

Ino sensing that it was like a deja vu instantly curled into a ball and tried to hide in the corner where the walls met by the bed's headboard. Her Boss however kept walking over and roughly pushed her hands away, pulled her legs straight, and held her by the chin none too gently.

"You listen. You were supposed to go through this entire so-called post trauma thing last night, obviously that kid didn't do much to you. Or, you liked him so it didn't matter to you, but yesterday, you had a tub of lard as your customer. Well guess what? In that room, anyone that goes in, whether it be male or female becomes your master. Is that understood?"

Seeing Ino's tired and afraid look, he gave her a small break, something that he did rarely with anyone.

"You straighten up your act by this Friday (today was Monday), if not, you can be sure that your friends get double the hours, double the work, meaning just that many more customers. Is that clear? And I want an answer."

Ino stared at him wide-eyed and he nearly averted his eyes due to the intensity and emptiness within her eyes, but she finally whispered, "Yes."

"Yes what?"

She replied robotically, "Yes, I understand. Your instructions are clear."

"Good."

With that, he tilted her face up, kissed her, then left the room.

----------------------------------

A/N: Short chapter this time, I'm just trying to find good places to break off for each chapter. And yay, exams are soon... (bio, math, whoooo, and music auditions) So yeah, my posts are going to be at irregular intervals ehehehehe (sweat).


	4. My Comfort

Title: Come Back to Me  
Series: Naruto   
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea.

A/N: Hey everyone, just want to say that no, Naruto's not here _yet_ but trust me, he's coming soon. I was going to push it later, but a lot of you keep asking me to put him on so... it'll be soon hehe :)

--------3 weeks later--------

Ino was once again waiting in one of 'the rooms' for her last customer. It was nearly midnight and she wanted to sleep, but a _dreamless_ sleep was luxury. If anyone looked at her face closely, they'd see a tired, haggard face. There were bags beneath her eyes (but was covered with a heavy makeup job), eyebrows knit together almost always, her skin was rougher, and then there were her eyes.

It seemed impossible to look at her without feeling uncomfortable or emotionless. As eyes are the windows to the soul, looking through her eyes, she had no soul. It was missing.

However, this could have been somewhat a blessing because ever since her first encounter, not many men came after her, but there was always at least one every half day.

Once her Boss had left her room, three weeks ago, Ino returned to work that Friday. Her Boss had come in to give her a small lecture before he left. But one thing stuck in her mind and it was by these words that she was forced to live by.

_"In that room, anyone that goes in, whether it be male or female becomes your master."_

Ino heard the door open and close almost perfectly silent, but it did not register that her new 'master' had entered the room. Her mind was elsewhere, her back was towards the door, and she simply didn't care. Besides, the beast usually came up from behind; they seemed to all like doing it in that fashion.

She didn't hear him calling her, she didn't feel his hand on her shoulder. It wasn't until his hand jerked back and pushed her onto her back that she knew that someone else was in the room with her. She looked up into a black void and it stirred something within her.

Then it clicked.

"AHHH!" She screamed, "Stay away from me!" She jumped off the bed and stood this time facing the man in the hoodie.

"What? Hey, Ino-" said the startled man.

"SHUT UP!"

"What's wrong with you?"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Ino was covering her ears, shaking her head wildly with her eyes closed, and mouth open. "DON'T COME ANY CLOSER! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A LIE!"

The man was stunned! What in the world was she talking about?

"YOU'RE ONLY HERE TO HURT ME! You don't care about me! All you did to me was a joke!" but by now, Ino had dropped her screaming to a whisper and tears started to roll down her face.

"W-what do you mean Ino? I would never do anything to hurt you."

"You liar!" she spat, "You tricked me! I thought that... that I'd never be touched after you came..." Her eyes opened, no longer dead, but with a far away look within.

"You were kind... and you didn't..." she shuddered, "do anything to me... But the next day! Some... BIG FAT PIG CAME AND RIPPED ME APART!" she screamed again.

She was hysterical! The man got up off the bed, hurriedly took her into his arms, then sat back down with her crying into his chest. This continued for a good fifteen minutes before Ino calmed down and noted that again, 'Hoodie' (as she had correctly guessed) hadn't violated her in any manner. Perhaps... he was the only one that never would.

Another fifteen minutes passed and suddenly, in the middle of her fitful sleep, Ino started mumbling to herself. 'Hoodie' listened intently and as she continued speaking, it was easy to see him getting angrier.

Ino kept mumbling the same phrases over and over again like "leave me alone" and "don't touch me!" She was tossing and turning within his arms and she constantly grew louder. Eventually, she reached a yell, opened her eyes, and woke up sitting up in 'Hoodie's lap.

She was trying to orientate herself and felt 'Hoodie' beside her. She glanced at him and a flash of red caught her eye. But as soon as she saw it, as soon as it disappeared leaving that area pure black again. It scared her, but she did not move away.

"Ino..." he said.

'Is he growling?' thought Ino. "H-hai?" she replied.

"**Who** touched **you** and **hurt** you?"

Ino blinked, unsure of what she was hearing. "What?"

"**Who was after me?**" Ino noticed that his voice was no longer a tenor voice, but had dropped to something between a tenor and bass. It was no longer a smooth voice, but rough, opposing, and commanding.

"Y-you mean... the person, the day... after?" she said, trying to understand what he was asking since there were plenty of men (and women) that had raped her and hurt her beyond belief.

'Hoodie' curtly nodded and Ino replied, "H-his... name was Takanura-san... H-he's... a business type of person. Why?"

"Absolutely no reason." But Ino knew that 'Hoodie' had some other plan up his sleeve. She could just feel it. She didn't really notice his killer intent that he was emitting because she was too preoccupied thinking back to that second day.

She hugged herself and relaxed into his arms when he embraced her too. Again, 'Hoodie' managed to make her confused, she had no idea what was going on anymore, but he was always there to comfort her.

"Would you ever hurt me?" she asked.

"Not intentionally," he replied, his voice reverting back to normal.

"What do you mean, 'not intentionally'?"

"If the only way to save you was to hurt you, then yes, I would, but not willingly."

Ino couldn't really say anything, so she simply smiled into his shoulder, wrapped her arms around him, and leaned against him until he had to leave.

When it was time (Ino was already dozing off as it was past midnight nearing one thirty), the man laid Ino down on her back and gave her a chaste kiss on her lips and forehead. He proceeded to get off the bed when she woke up.

"Ne, 'Hoodie-kun'?" she said while rubbing her eyes trying to wake up.

If she could have seen him, she'd have seen his eyebrow raise in a questioning manner as she used his nickname once again. "Hai?"

"Arigatou-gozaimasu," she said sleepily.

She sensed him smile before he answered, "No problem. Just go back to sleep, alright?"

Ino, too tired to say anything else, nodded cutely (according to 'Hoodie') and lay back down on the bed, eyes closed. One thing he noticed however, was that even when she was tired, when she spoke with him, her eyes sparkled like they did before.

He turned back around, turned off the light, and just before closing the door, whispered, "Oyasuminasai Ino-chan." Then all was silent.

----------------------------------------


	5. Feeling Weak and Used

Title: Come Back to Me   
Series: Naruto   
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea.

--------1 week later: Girls' room--------

Ino, Tsunade, and Sakura were finally able to relax after a hard day's work. Both the younger girls had adjusted and come to realize that yes, unless others from the outside free them, their lives consisted only of pleasing others, following commands, and listening to their Boss. They were chatting before they went to sleep and the topic of Ino's first customer came up.

"Ne Ino, I have to say that in a way, I'm jealous of your 'Hoodie-kun' as you so affectionately call him," remarked Sakura.

"Yeah, if I didn't know any better squirt, I'd say you actually like him," joked Tsunade, adding a wink to her comment.

"What? No way! We've only met twice, that's not enough to say that I like this guy," replied Ino, but she wasn't really sure if she meant that. He was the only one that provided her comfort outside of her surrogate family.

'Still! It's only been two meetings! How could I like someone- no wait, liking is easier than loving, huh?'

"So Ino, what's he like?" asked an eager Sakura. She was interested in this man that Ino had talked about ever since the first meeting because well, he didn't rape or have sex with her. Period. All they did was... hug and kiss.

Ino blushed and tried to hide it as she began to describe her dear 'Hoodie-kun'. "Well... see, the reason he's called 'Hoodie' in the first place is because... I've never seen his face before."

"EHHH?" exclaimed Sakura and Tsunade in unison.

"Yeah... ehehehe," Ino was rubbing the back of her head feeling somewhat embarassed. "Anyway! Ah... He's... built, kind, gentle, sweet, caring, and he's got a really nice tenor voice."

Tsunade and Sakura in their own rights were feeling a tad bit jealous that Ino had a really nice guy that promised to keep coming back every month. They were also happy for Ino though, because any kind of happiness was something that all the females in the brothels deserved.

Tsunade was running through Ino's description of the man, and asked, "What did you mean by him being caring?"

"Oh," started Ino, "well, like said, he hasn't touched me. He's been really considerate. Even from the first meeting."

Ino remembered their first meeting and mentioned how she idiotically questioned him as to why he wasn't raping her.

"Thing is, he actually asked me if that was what I wanted. I immediately yelled out 'no' and then, he simply said, "'Then I won't.'""

"Such a lucky butt Ino," said Sakura.

"I know." Ino stuck her tongue out playfully at Sakura who returned the gesture too.

Sakura seemed to suddenly remember something and asked, "Did either of you know that Takanura-san, you know, the highest paying sex fiend at our brothel, died suddenly last night?"

Ino choked but Sakura continued, "Apparently, it seems like it was death by natural causes, no blood, no weapons, no motives. His wife's gone missing along with her child though, but I think it's because they ran away. Personally, I don't understand why that woman got stuck with him in the first place. It kinda makes sense that he died naturally with all that fat rolling off him in waves." Sakura shuddered at her own metaphor as the others.

Tsunade noticed Ino looking strange and said, "Oi, Ino-imouto, you okay?"

Ino took a while before replying and was also considering whether to mention 'Hoodie-kun' or not. Sakura had stopped speaking and looked over at Ino patiently waiting for her to answer.

"Well, see, last night... I kinda fell asleep when I was with 'Hoodie' and I guess I started to mumble in my sleep. It was the same nightmare, me being raped by that fat ass pig Takanura-teme and when it reached the worst point, when he shoved himself into me, I woke up screaming."

The girls listened intently and were sad to know exactly what Ino was talking about since she had woken up screaming in the night before. Ino continued.

"I tried to accustom myself to my surroundings when I woke up and then I noticed that I was sitting in someone's lap. I look to my right and the first thing I see is the black void, you know, 'Hoodie's head hidden by the actual hood. The first thing he said was

_"Ino..."_

_"H-hai?" she replied._

_"Who touched you and hurt you?"_

_Ino blinked, unsure of what she was hearing. "What?"_

_"WhO wAs AfTeR mE?"_

_"Y-you mean... the person, the day... after?"_

_'Hoodie' curtly nodded and Ino replied, "H-his... name was Takanura-san... H-he's... a business type of person. Why?"_

_"Absolutely no reason."_

So... I think he may have had something to do with Takanura-teme's death."

Sakura was analyzing everything that 'Hoodie' had said when she realized something absolutely shocking, "INO!"

"What? Look, you don't need to yell I'm ri-"

"Shut up! When he was talking to you, did he call you by your real name?"

Both Tsunade and Ino stopped talking and Ino eventually replied, "Yeah... he did... Actually, he did in our first meeting too. He was laughing at me, after making a really horrible and stupid joke (she said this deadpan-faced), and said that I looked funny and cute when I got pissed."

"Ino-imouto, have you sensed anything strange from him? Like if he's a ninja and not just a normal customer?"

Ino was embarassed to say that she hadn't paid attention to such details, but she did recall a few things. She told them about his weird chakra signature, though she couldn't go much into detail since she didn't focus on it, and of last night, that when she woke up, she saw a glimpse of red where his eyes would have been.

Sakura gasped.

It couldn't be! Why in the world would THAT person be here of all places?

"Sakura-imouto, what is it?"

"Tsuna-neechan, what's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of red eyes?"

"Uhm... someone that's overworked?" said Ino.

"Baka! No way, I think of a bloodline and there's only one bloodline that produces red eyes."

Tsunade caught on immediately. "You can't possibly mean him."

"I do."

"WHO ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" screamed Ino.

"That's right, you weren't on my team. Well, really, you should be able to figure this out too. Who do you know has a bloodline?"

"The Hyuugas."

"And the clan that's closely related to them?"

Ino's eyes widened in surprise, "UCHIHA-AHOU HAS BEEN IN A ROOM TOGETHER WITH ME?"

"Ino..."/"Imouto..."

It was too late, Ino was feeling sick to the stomach. 'I've been in a room with... Uchiha-AHOU, and TWICE' and by now, Ino was holding herself trying to regain her composure.

"Ino, I'm sorry..."

"WHY?" shouted Ino. "WHY HIM?" but then Ino calmed suddenly (which frightened the other two) and quietly asked, "How are you so sure it's him?"

Sakura was never one to lie so she said what she knew, "You remember that fight we had about two-three years ago (time passed far too slowly for anyone to remember accurately what date or year they were in)? Back at the Academy?" Ino nodded and Sakura continued. "I was jealous, when we talked about that 'One True Love' thing."

"Why?"

Sakura's eyes met Ino's and said weakly, "I noticed that when you said you would dedicate your life to the first man who kissed you..." Sakura couldn't really continue until Ino nudged her, bringing her back to reality. "Uchiha-ahou stared at you for a long time before turning his head back to the front. And you know that he never stares at anyone without a reason behind it."

Ino's mind reeled. It was too strange! It was all wrong! How could an idiot like that care for her after having ruined her life! Her village! 'Hoodie', now known as Uchiha Sasuke-teme, was the one she was beginning to have feelings for? Never!

Ino went to lie on her bed and she had never wished as hard as she did that night to simply die in her sleep.

-------Next Week: 6 o'clock PM-------

Nevertheless, after the revelation, Ino continued to work, again, only working once every half day but now, she hated that fact. It gave her far too much time to think about everything, especially 'Hoodie' (it was a more bearable name to say rather than Uchiha-ahou).

She sighed, the two others wouldn't get back until past ten, that left her with another four hours to kill. She really wouldn't mind doing more work, she'd become accustomed to the demands of the customers. She'd obey every 'master', she had been stretched quite a few times and/or ripped into, she had as many female customers as there were males, and no matter what, she would not retaliate.

What hadn't changed were her eyes. As 'Hoodie' had noticed before leaving her two weeks ago, her eyes had sparkled with life again. In less than half a month, they had dimmed to what they had been before he had come to visit. One thing she did wish for was that he never come back to see her ever again.

The door opened, though in a civilized manner, and in stepped her Boss. Ino looked over, acknowledged him verbally, but remained sitting. She opened her ears to listen attentively as her Boss came to sit on her bed.

'He's drunk,' Ino noted. Next to her, rather than being the handsome, built Boss that she knew, this drunkard was slouched, his eyes lidded and struggling to remain up, and his body was moving to a beat only heard by the man.

He looked over at her, she at him, and he was suddenly all over her, moaning, grunting, pushing, and eventually, when finished, he collapsed above her.

-----------------------------------


	6. Entrance

Title: Come Back to Me   
Series: Naruto   
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea. 

A/N: I recently checked to get more accurate info and my bad ehehe, It's Inoichi, not Inoshi.

On with the fic:

Within ten minutes, Boss had left, Ino changed her sheets and was heading for a shower.

She cleaned herself and then, to relax, stood beneath the stream of hot water. She popped in her mouth a special birth pill. It was designed specifically for the women in brothels since, as the owners discovered early in the business, that babies were really a hassle to deal with. These birth pills were designed and created to prevent pregnancy and one was enough. This way, the girls would take one everyday to account for everything that happened to them.

If by any chance the pill did not work, the baby, boy or girl, would be sold/shipped off to another brothel to be trained and used. Never would they know their own parents. This was a rather vicious cycle because as soon as those children were twelve years of age or older, they would most likely be bought back by another brothel to be used. Hence the reason why it was difficult to find virgins since all children were broken ever since they were old enough to work.

She let her mind loose, thinking to what had just happened in her bed, but she couldn't concentrate on it.

In those few minutes, Boss had released her mind from focusing on 'Hoodie' (as it was much easier to say this than to say Uchiha) but he didn't help her much farther. He was drunk, screaming out the names of his past girlfriends (Ino was not offended), but she was highly irritated at the fact that she could not release even after he did. It wasn't surprising that he had come to her though since he had in the past. It was usually after a breakup and so Ino was used to him coming over now.

Ino sighed and closed her eyes, feeling the pressure at her back massaging her. Almost like hands really. In fact, she was able to convince herself through her imagination that they really were hands rubbing her shoulders loose.

The hands traveled farther, ghosting over her breasts and toying with her vagina before massaging her legs then starting at the top all over again. She sighed contentedly before she turned herself around and suddenly, she hated her imagination.

There before her, stood 'Hoodie'.

Ino shook her head vigorously, turned the shower knob to off violently, threw the curtains back viciously, stepped out, dried off, dressed, then threw herself onto her bed. She cried bitter tears at knowing full well that she cared for 'Hoodie' even if he was the damn traitor of the village, at the fact that she was nothing but a whore and nothing more.

'Not even a kunoichi.'

Had Inoichi been there, he'd have been frowning and crying just as much as her.

---------2 weeks later----------

Christmas and New Years were just around the corner, but once again, Ino sat in another 'room' waiting for the last customer of the day. She knew however, that it would be... Him. She shuddered at the idea but quickly concealed it as the door quietly opened and closed. Her back again was facing his, but she turned around and nodded in his direction. She never tried to make eye contact, but 'Hoodie was surprisingly rough today, which in turn frightened Ino.

He went directly to the bed, sat down, but this time, not holding Ino close. In a quiet voice, he ordered her harshly and abruptly, "Get between my legs, take my pants off but not the boxers, and look like you're sucking it."

Ino could barely believe what he said. She was shocked and continued to stare at her hands before he yelled at her to do as he said. After a moment of hesitation, Ino resolved herself to 'live by her Master's words' and proceeded to unzip his pants.

She noticed that her hands were shaking and she unconsciously wondered why. She kept going however until his pants were down to his knees. She then noticed something that he said. He told her to _pretend_ that she was giving him a blow job. She was not going to disobey his order this time.

She lay on her side, her back to the door so that her body covered up his boxer materials and he in turn angled himself to make it look like she was in the right position rather than an ackward one. She noticed that he was gripping the sheets till his knuckles turned white. She hadn't even done anything yet!

He quickly said to her, "Hurry up and look like you're doing something at least!"

She got annoyed and for a quick moment, anger (an emotion) filled her eyes before they dulled once again. She moved her head back and forth, as if traveling his length and he began moaning! This guy was a lot weirder than she thought!

She noticed that his penis was hardening but he seemed to be trying to rein in all of his self-control. He was far too strange for her.

Then the door flew open stopping Ino in the midst of her 'job'.

Her head quickly looked back and was surprised to find Boss there. 'What's he-' then Ino understood. 'He's here on one of my performance evaluations I guess. Great...'

'Hoodie' spoke shakily, as if Ino had been actually giving him a blow job, "C-Can I help you? I'm a little bit..." he took in a shuddering breath, "busy."

"Sorry sir. I thought this room was empty for the next pair. Please accept my apologies," replied Boss.

"Accepted, but do leave. Quickly."

It was evident that Boss was a little bit unnerved with a customer bossing him around but he nodded and switfly left the room, never glancing once at Ino.

"Keep going," ordered 'Hoodie'.

Ino still did not turn to look at him though it was obvious that she questioned his motive. 'I mean... how many guys want to get their 'jollies' so to speak, but doing it with an air-blow-job...' She continued without question though and after five minutes (he was still trying to keep his self-control), he told her to stop.

Ino couldn't help now but look at him, questions written all over her face. 'What the heck was this guy thinking? Why in the world did he want me to do that and not shove it in me or something? I mean... sure I thought he was weird and strange, but this is to a whole new level.' Then she remembered who he really was and she turned to face the end of the bed so that he wouldn't notice that something was 'off'.

They stayed that way, 'Hoodie' trying to get some air back into his lungs after starving them of oxygen to sound like he really was having his penis being sucked. He then proceeded to zip up his pants and lie on the bed staring at the ceiling.

Then he spoke.

"It's alright, he's gone now."

"Sorry, what?" asked Ino, still refusing to look at him. She was sure though, that he was going crazy. Who would be around and why did they both have to sound like they were having the greatest one-sided oral sex experience in their life?

"That guy that came in, your boss I think. He was standing outside the door ever since I came in. I thought he was trying to do something to you, and it seems like I was right. He's finally gone though."

So that's what had happened! 'Hoodie' was only making it seem like she was giving him oral sex just so that that could throw Boss off her back!

Ino couldn't say much though other than, "Oh."

They stayed in an uncomfortable (to Ino) silence before Ino turned her blazing, angry eyes at 'Hoodie', startling him.

"Okay, I don't get it. Why do you keep coming back?"

He chuckled and replied lightly, "Well Ino-ch-"

"And don't call me Ino-chan! I barely know you and only my closest friends can use that on my name!"

"Uh... alright..." said the continually increasingly confused male. "Anyway, it's because you can't really dedicate yourself to someone if they're never here, right?"

Ino could have sworn that he was smirking at her right there and her conversation with Sakura came back.

_Sakura was never one to lie so she said what she knew, "You remember that fight we had about two-three years ago __? Back at the Academy?" Ino nodded and Sakura continued. "I was jealous, when we talked about that 'One True Love' thing."_

_"Why?"_

_Sakura's eyes met Ino and said weakly, "I noticed that when you said you would dedicate your life to the first man who kissed you..." Sakura couldn't really continue until Ino nudged her, bringing her back to reality. "Uchiha-ahou stared at you for a long time before turning his head back to the front. And you know that he never stares at anyone without a reason behind it."_

Ino could no longer rein in her anger. She proceeded to do everything she could to hurt him. Biting, clawing, punching, kicking, all in efforts to harm him.

She found herself screaming at him as she continued to beat him. "BAKA! AHOU!" she would repeat herself over and over screaming the words at him, but nothing seemed to hurt him!

"INO!" He finally shouted, loud enough to stop her in her tracks. "What in the world's gotten into you?"

"I SHOULD BE ASKING THE SAME OF YOU AHOU!" Her eyes stared directly where his eyes should be, unwavering, though it did feel somewhat weird.

"What are you talking about?"

"You're here only to use me! You and all the others!"

"Ino, I care about you, I would never use you or hurt you or do anything that would harm you in any way."

"SHUT UP! YOU'VE ALREADY RUINED MY VILLAGE! YOU-YOU TRAITOR! I HATE YOU UCHIHA-TEMEYAROU!"

BAM

Ino's eyes could have popped out of her skull if the punch had been any harder. She slowly brought her left hand up to her left cheek and turned to look at Uchiha-teme.

He was still in the follow-through position of his punch but he stiffly pulled his arm back to his side and got up off the bed.

**"Don't you DARE ever refer to me as that traitor."** He pulled a few things out of his hoodie pocket, tossed them onto the bed, then headed for the door.

During that time, Ino heard what he said and it didn't strike her strange to know instinctively that he wasn't lying. She looked at the contents on the bed and her eyes were drawn directly to the codings created by her surrogate brothers, Shikamaru and Chouji.

She had the sudden urge to know who that man was.

He was about to open the door when she got up, ran towards him, and held his arm. He shrugged her hand off.

"Now what?" he said gruffly, not having fully returned to his normal voice.

"Who are you?" Ino asked, purely innocent and purely out of curiosity with a tinge of fear in her voice.

"Tch, you thought I was Uchiha," he said contemptuously. He reached for the door, opened it, and Ino couldn't help herself. She _**had**_ to know who he was.

With surprising strength (to herself and to him), she pulled with her left hand on the hoodie and turned him around with her right hand. The hood fell off and who she saw made her stop and gasp.

A handsome young man, about her age, with bright yellow hair sticking up in all directions and his chiseled, masculine face stood staring at her with eyes fire red and cerulean blue colours swirling confusedly and with surprise.

Ino stopped and stared at him not able to say a word.

A clock somewhere in the building chimed and this brought him back to reality. He first widened his eyes then he scrunched his face (as if he were in pain) and quickly flipped his hoodie back up. He turned around and slammed the door close. He never said goodbye.

In the silence, one word was said:

"N-Naru...to..."

----------------------------------

A/N: Miya, hi everyone hehe. Well, here he comes in this chapter so I hope you're happy hehe. I got this chapter up (because yes I'm still out of the country) because I uploaded it to the Documents folder before I left. I'm just going to give you this because I don't know how long it'll be before I upload another chapter ehehehe... But I'll do my best to be quick about it too (smiles). So, here you go! Till... perhaps September or maybe sometime mid-August hehehe (raspberry).


	7. Simple Gifts

Title: Come Back to Me  
Series: Naruto  
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea.

**Replies to Reviews:  
**  
A True Radical Dreamer: Thank you, glad to know you like the story that much :) I'm trying my best so I'm glad to know it's working out.

GreyEye: Yeah, I didn't want the story to be graphic, and I put it under Horror because there's really no other category that fits it. I couldn't just leave it at Romance so Horror was closest.

WarShadow: My answer to some of your questions are in this chapter :)

Shadow of Archon: Explanation about the eyes will come up soon enough. As for my 'newbish' writing, I don't really understand what you meant... So if the person was to yell, you would put bold and type --I Am Really Mad-- like that? Personally, it looks weird, so I might stick to my n00b writing cuz I type that way on MSN ehehehe (sweatdrop). Hope it doesn't bug you too much, but thanks for the reply!

**Oh, and updates may not be every week... I'm trying to put my ideas together, but sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. (Oh, and I just got back to a working computer, hence the long wait. Problem, the rest of my fic that was on my computer before being put up is now deleted. So, I kind of have to restart so it might be awhile. Sorry!) But for now, on with the fic!**

-------3 months later--------

It was the month of December and it was nearing Christmas. Ino waited but Naruto never came back. She was currently in her room along with Tsunade and Sakura as they got ready for bed. She herself was cleaning up her side of the room and came upon the kimono she wore the last time she saw Naruto.

'Okay, that's gross. Three months and it hasn't been washed,' and she inwardly shuddered but also felt her spirits lower for a quick moment.

She was about to throw it into the laundry hamper when she felt a few hard somethings inside one of the sleeves. She looked through the right arm, fiddled around with the sleeve until three boxes popped out. She was surprised at how carefully bundled they were for she did not remember bundling them herself.

She removed the three and noted that there was a pink box, a green box, and a purple box. 'Colour coded, and it fits the three girls in this room. So... pink for Sakura, green for Tsunade, purple for me.' And sure enough, at the bottom of each box encoded with Team Ten's codes were each of their names.

"Oi, Sakura, Tsunade," she called to the two who were already in bed, "I've got something for ya."

Sakura rolled over in her bed but didn't get out. "Ino... just, give it to us tomorrow. We're tired."

Tsunade nodded from her sleeping position, "Hai, hai. Tomorrow would be good, 'k?"

"But," started Ino, "it's letters, from, you know, _them_." They all knew who 'them' were.

Both girls bolted out of bed and went over to Ino's bed. They saw the boxes, guessed their colours and returned to their beds, each opening their own box carefully, as if they couldn't bare the thought of the paper ripping.

Ino was surprised to find more than the usual two letters from her team mates addressed to her. Her eyes widened when she saw the codes of Hinata, Tenten, and Kurenai-sensei. She quickly glanced over at Sakura and Tsunade were tearing up already, absorbed in all their letters.

She returned to her own letters and smiled as she read each one. First she read those from Shikamaru and Chouji (it was two notes in one).

Oi, Ino, it's nice writing to you again, however troublesome it is.  
The Rebel Groups are still preparing for an attack on Konoha, but we're really low on manpower. Especially since we're missing a lot of our kunoichi (Ino looked away for a quick moment before continuing). Again, only short messages but take to heart to know that we're trying to figure a way to get you all out. Take care, Shika.

Hey Ino!Chouji here and well, can't say much other than we (Ino knew he was referring to himself and Shikamaru) miss you a lot. Now don't tell the other girls, and I'm not even supposed to mention this (Ino raised her eyebrow at that. 'Chouji never tells me anything if Shikamaru tells him not to.') but, all those in the Rebel Groups -we really need a new name- are trying to figure a way to break you out. Though I can't say how soon, but we've got half a plan going already. But know this, we don't know how long it'll take before we can get you out, a week, a month, who knows? Hopefully it'll be soon. Take care, Chou.

'Thank goodness I didn't read these letters any sooner, otherwise I'd be dying to wait for them to get me out.'

The next few letters were from the girls.

Ino-chan,  
Just want to say hi and hope you and Sakura-chan and Tsunade-san are all well, or as well as you can be. Kurenai-sensei, Tenten-chan, and I are doing fine. I don't have much time to write but I do hope to hear from you soon. Till the next note or till we meet again, Hinata.

Yo Ino!  
Sucks having these bracelets on. I've been trying to twirl things around to keep myself in a bit of practise of twirling kunais and all that, but, dang! I'm not doing well at all, which really disappoints me since I should be able to do this. There's really something weird going on with these dang restrictions. Anyway, hope you and the other two are doing all right. Us girls, we're doing fine but we want out! Tenten.

Ino-kun,  
I'm sorry that you are in this situation and for all the other girls too. As you may have heard, the Rebel Groups are planning to get us out. Before they come though, do take care of the other two and yourself. Train too if possible, though it is difficult. I've seen Tenten try to keep up her weapon techniques and it's really hard. But do try, the Rebel Groups will need all the help they can get and not use members as support-nins for those that they're freeing. Say hi to the others, Kurenai.

Ino shifted through the letters and stumbled across another written in her team's codes. It was the last note left but the strange thing (other than the fact that she had already read the other two's notes) was that it was from Uzumaki(1) of all people.

Ino's eyes darkened slightly as she opened it to read:

Ino-chan,Heh, I know, you're probably thinking, how in the world did he learn my team's codes? Well... I didn't! Chouji was nice enough to let me dictate and write this to you (Shikamaru was WAY too lazy to do it. Plus, he's a lot busier than most of us, so I'll let him slide on this one hehe). To be honest, I don't really know what to say ('Idiot!' thought Ino, 'you're wasting time then!') other than hi. Oh, and the reason why this is in your code is because well, my writing itself is a code and I doubt that you'd be able to decipher it. Anyway, hope you and the other two are doing all right at the brothel but be sure that the Rebel Groups are coming for you guys! Err, girls. Until we all bust in and save your butts, take care. - Uzumaki Naruto

'Idiot! Why did you write me a note? I mean... I don't even know you much, and-and... you wouldn't even have told me who you were had I not pulled your hood away. But now you're never coming back! IDIOT!'

She looked across the room to her sisters and noted that they had tear stains across their cheeks. However, they were already asleep, notes carefully tucked away, and their lights were already turned off. Ino hadn't even noticed them turn their lights off.

She in turn carefully put away the precious notes in her secret hiding spot before settling down in bed, turning off her light, and trying her hardest to let sleep claim her. But it didn't. Only until after three in the morning could she sleep, fitfully. Though when she woke up, she wasn't sure what kept her up all night.

A/N   
(1) Uzumaki, not Naruto because from what I understand in the Japanese culture, you only use first names when you know the person or the person gives permission for you to use it. She did say Naruto when she took away the hood, but now after three months, she's reverted back to using Uzumaki. (Yeah, I know, she never said Uzumaki in the anime/manga, but I'm using Uzumaki as a way to express her distance -as in friendship, not physical- from him even more.)

--------The following night---------

"Ne ne, Sakura, Tsu-neechan, why are you guys so happy?" asked Ino, looking at the two older women who had been hugging one another for a short while.

"We can't help it Ino, we received wonderful news last night!"

"You mean getting out of here?"

"That's one!"

"You have two reasons? Tsu-neechan, what's the other one!"

Tsunade was too happy to speak and kept trying to get Sakura to explain the news whereas Sakura was doing the same, but trying to get Tsunade to tell Ino.

"Well? Are either of you going to tell me?" said an exasperated Ino.

"Ino..." Sakura left Ino hanging for a moment, "Naruto's still alive! He's still alive!" she exclaimed.

"That's right, my little brother's still living and breathing. The curse of my necklace has not reached him or perhaps... he was the one to break it," said a teary-eyed Tsunade.

Ino put on her happy face, congratulated the two (not telling them that she had known he was alive the past three months, that she too received a note from him, and that these notes were supposed to be given out three months ago), then got herself ready for bed.

'I'm such a coward, ne?' thought Ino. 'I can't tell them anything, about knowing how he was around for so long, that 'Hoodie' isn't _him_ but is Uzumaki instead. I'm... afraid of how they'd hate me for keeping this information for so long. I... I'm scared.'

She wasn't sure why though, she knew the other two would be mad at her for a while, but she was also positive that they'd forgive her. Then again... Sakura had a huge reputation for holding grudges but surely Tsunade'd forgive her?

'I guess... No. I know why I'm scared. I just don't want to lose my family again...'

-------------------------------

A/N: Eehehehe, I know, the letter from Naruto seems out of character for him in this fic, but I still wanted some of his boyish attitude to still be present in such a dark world. I think I nailed the personality though hehe. Well, till next chapter!


	8. Ringing in the New Year

Title: Come Back to Me  
Series: Naruto   
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea.

Replies to Reviews:  
Shadow of Archon : Okay, this was from the review in chapter seven, but I'm trying your yelling thing here for the most part. Personally it looks funny, but I also understand what you meant by it looking childish when I typed it out all in capitals. Hopefully it works out in this chapter hehe!

A/N: Miya, this chapter's up, so hope it all goes well. Not sure when I can get others up as I am retyping and getting my ideas together too... ehehhe, I had a plan and then I forgot it (sweat). Well anyway, here we go! This chapter is probably something that everyone was waiting for hehehe :D!

-----------Night, December 30------------

Christmas had come and gone with no signs of the Rebel Groups. The three girls were starting to mentally fidget in place. 'This is ridiculous! It's like I thought, it's a good thing I didn't read these letters any sooner. If I had, I'd be insane by now! Same goes for the other two too I'm sure,' thought Ino. She looked across the room to her sisters who kept their gazes away from each other. No one in the room wanted to have eye contact because they knew if they did, someone would start ranting and raving and give away all the (rather limited) information of the rescue operation away.

It was the night before New Year's Eve and the girls' work was done for the day. They didn't need to work tomorrow nor on New Year's day though the brothel would still be open but only at the bar.

'Where are you Uzumaki... Why didn't you come back after three months? Are you really... really...' she hesitated, even if she was mentally asking the question. 'Do you hate me that much?' The same questions had plagued her mind ever since the first month passed and he never returned.

Ino shook her head and tried to concentrate on something else. She had taken up on Tenten's advice and had started to try twirling things around and practising her katas as she would have normally. She never realized how heavy and restraining her bracelets were till then.

Sakura looked up at Ino as she saw her setting up her stance and go through a couple katas before Sakura shifted her gaze to Tsunade. She too was watching Ino move fluidly across the floor. Sakura returned to looking at Ino and before she knew it, she was standing and blocking one of Ino's punches.

Ino was rather surprised as was Tsunade when Sakura momentarily interrupted her focus by blocking her punch. She looked up at Sakura, wondering what she was doing, then suddenly the two began to spar right there, in the tiny room. Tsunade smirked and watched her two younger sisters practise before she in turn closed her eyes and began reciting ways to cure different ailments.

'Wow... it's been so long since I've done this,' she smiled. 'Should've started doing this earlier. It's quite relaxing for me. I should train the other two more and maybe they'll calm down by doing this too.' She opened her eyes for a moment, let that thought filter through, then began chuckling quietly to herself. 'As if!' She closed her eyes once again and restarted her 'mini'-exercise.

-------------

Thirty minutes later, Ino and Sakura could be seen panting and resting somewhere on the ground, sweat dripping down their foreheads and soaking through their clothes. Tsunade was still meditating (and was still thinking about the different types of ailments and cures one could get from eating a poisonous mushroom).

The door flew open (forcing Tsunade out of her deep concentration) and Boss stood there, looking down at the pair on the floor. He wrinkled his nose and curled his lip in obvious disgust at the smell that permeated the room.

"What is this, some kind of dojo?" he yelled. "Absolutely not, you two, I don't care WHAT quarrel you had, if this happens again, I will..." He wanted to say "kick you out!" but knew that that would be to his disadvantage. He took a breath, "You just watch it, I'll find some way to make this place a living nightmare for you. **G**ot **I**t?"

The two girls nodded and Boss left without a word, he didn't even notice Tsunade on her bed.

A sigh. "You girls are such idiots."

"Mou! Tsuna-neechan! Don't say that to us!"

"Yeah!"

"And why not? You guys were making such a ruckus!"

"Then why didn't you tell us to stop?"

"Un! Why not, Tsuuunaaa-neeeechaaaaan?" It seemed that Sakura was rather giddy after her spar practice with Ino.

"Simple. I blocked your noise out, even though it took me a couple minutes."

"If that's the case Tsu-neechan, how would you know we were loud?"

"Because you two are always loud."

The two younger girls feigned being hurt, giving all three a good laugh. It had really been a long time since they'd laughed with each other.

---------

After Ino came out, towel drying her hair, she sat on her bed. She glanced at Sakura when she heaved a great sigh as did Tsunade.

"Oi, Sakura, what's with the sigh?"

"Huh?" Sakura resembled a bit of a parrot when she cocked her head to the side and looked wide-eyed at Ino. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." Ino took a moment then shook her head. "Nah, it's nothing."

"I don't think so. What's running through your mind, imouto?" asked Tsunade.

Sakura looked down at her lap and motioned for Ino to move closer to her side of the room and began whispering, "It's just... it seems like it's going to be forever before anyone from the RG picks us up! I mean... it's just..."

By that time, Tsunade had walked over to Sakura's bed too and had begun hugging her. "I know it seems long imouto, but we have to have patience. You can't really expect them to suddenly jump into our room with some kind of flashy entrance and take us away, you know?"

Ino chuckled a bit, "That would be funny though eh? Especially if Shika was there and did something weird. Could you imagine him saying, "Fair maidens! We, the Rebel Group members are your knights in shining armor! We shall save you from this dark, dank, evil place!"" (Shikamaru, at the RG base suddenly sneezed very violently.)

The two others grinned slowly and started to laugh a little too. Soon enough the three were roaring with laughter, tears streaming down their faces, hands holding their stomachs. They tried to calm down, but it didn't work at all. Shikamaru was just too easy to tease at times.

That was until once again Boss flew in.

The laughter stopped almost instantly as he glowered at them. They knew the message. "**K**eep it down for the **bloody** last time! Anymore sound noise and you three will be split up! Am I clear, even _Crystal Clear_ for the last time?"

"Yes sir, crystal clear, sir!" they said (unenthusiastically). He gave each female one last stare and as he landed upon Ino who was last, they kept their faces straight, stoic. Ino looked almost as if she was defying him, but as she did not say anything, he tore his eyes away from her and slammed the door shut.

After a few minutes of silence (as none of the girls felt like laughing anymore), Sakura said one thing that was on all their minds, though rather bluntly.

"Can't those guys hurry up any faster?"

---------Morning, December 31----------

Tsunade was beyond shocked.

Before her, on the floor, sat her two little sisters actually concentrating on the different parts of the body. They were still on the upper torso but they were rattling off all the different muscles and tendons attached to all the bones and how they connected to each other (to a reference point which at this time was the clavicle -collar bone-). Not to mention that they were actually rattling it off correctly though they did have a few stumbles here and there.

This was not what Tsunade thought she'd see when she first woke up. It seems as though her plan last night was being executed.

----last night after Boss' leave----

It was her turn to sigh. Boss seemed to always know when to enter and cut off all good moments the three were having.

"Well girls..." 'Tch, nice lame start there Tsunade.'

The two turned to look at her and she couldn't help but feel disappointed. It was as if disappointment was emanating off the two girls in ripples and if given enough time, all three would drown in it. She sighed again.

"Look, I know you two want to do things to get yourselves back into shape, though yes, I know, it is kind of late. But better late than never, right?"

"Tsuna-neechan, your pep talk's not working all too well."

Ino nodded in agreement. "Actually, it's not working at all. If we can't make noise, that means we can't spar. If we can't spar, then our bodies are going to waste away," she hesitated, "not that they haven't started to already."

Sakura gasped and looked sharply at Ino, but her eyes were downcast.

"Ino," Ino looked up to meet Tsunade's eyes, "that isn't all too true. You and Sakura proved that today as you sparred, you can still at least move nimbly, though somewhat languidly. I'll leave that to the bracelets and for not having practised your katas enough. But!" Sakura looked back to her older sister, "there is a way that we can still train ourselves and this time quietly."

The two younger girls looked at each other in question and redirected their focus again. "Well? What is it?" both asked.

Tsunade smirked (slightly frightening the two), "You start studying to become med-nins."

---- Present -----

Soon after that talk, the three went to sleep and when Tsunade woke up, she found the two studying together the human body. It was mainly due to Sakura's memory bank that the two were already so far ahead. Ino was learning while Sakura was refreshing.

Tsunade soon joined in and this exercise continued well into the night. In the afternoon however, they ate the lunch that was provided whilst Tsunade introduced them to herbal medicines (topical, injections, etc).

'This is quite nice, they learn quickly, especially Sakura-imouto. Ino's not bad, this being her first official lesson, I wonder how much she'll remember by the end of tonight.' Tsunade smiled as she watched the two continue, now at the pelvic area. 'I have to say, I'm proud of my girls.'

---- Night ----

"(Ya-awn and stretch)!"

A giggle. "Wah! Ino, your mouth is so big!"

Swat. "Shut up Sakura, this was a big day for me. That was a lot of information the two of you bombarded on me, you know?"

A smile. "Yes, and you both did really well. You make me proud."

The two turned and hugged their older sister. "Thanks Tsuna-neechan, you've done a lot for us."

"Yeah! And now we can become like, a super-med-nin team all on our own!"

Tsunade had a good laugh out of that, "Whoa, hold your horses Ino. We're not up to that stage yet!"

Ino blushed slightly out of embarassment as Sakura joined in the laughter. Ino did too, but all three were making sure to not be too loud.

As it was New Year's Eve, all the rooms in the brothel were given one radio to listen to so that they could all do the countdown. It was Boss' way of encouraging others to "ring in the new year for business."

Although they didn't like that idea, the girls couldn't help but tune in. They didn't have any outside world contact (other than those rare and precious letters from their friends), but in matters of politics and whatnot, they had no idea what was happening. They found the channel they usually listened to every year and let the words fill the room.

"-n other news, Uchiha-sama of the Western Side has added yet again to his previous law that should anyone see any member of the Akatsuki, he or she should report immediately to any Sound-nin in the vicinity. "Remember," he says, "Akatsuki is an organisation that wishes for your death. I, personally, do not. I care for my people and wish to do everything in my power to make sure no harm comes to-"

CRASH

Sakura heaved heavily as the other two looked at the poor wall that now had a huge portion missing from it and a broken radio lying on the floor in scattered pieces.

"**T**hat **L**iar!" she screamed. "**H**e **D**oesn't **C**are **A**bout **A**nyone **B**ut **H**imself, **T**hat **S**elf-**A**bsorbed **L**ittle -!" She managed to stop herself from saying anything else. She continued breathing in ragged breaths but no one in the room moved. The atmosphere had definitely worsened.

'Tch, I still can't believe that there are Uchiha-followers on this planet,' thought Tsunade. 'He's everything despicable and more.'

Ino's mind was not on Uchiha, as soon as she heard his name, she tuned out the rest of the broadcast but was brought out of her trance-like state when Sakura threw the radio. She already knew that whenever his name was mentioned that nothing good would follow. She was waiting for the day to hear that 'Uchiha-sama' was brought down by some mysterious person or group. At that thought, she smirked to herself, 'I didn't think like this at all back at the Academy. Man... I was such a fool.'

----------

It was nearing midnight. You could hear even through the relatively thick walls the shouts of drunken men and women attempting to count down from ten to one but it was a pathetic attempt.

The three girls were sitting on their beds also counting down and thinking about the past and coming year with not too many joyous accounts. In each of their hands were the letters they had received over the years (enough for less than a handful) as it helped them remember some good things that had happened.

"10!"

Sakura was still reading her latest letter.

"9!"

She smiled when she saw Naruto's handscrawl and his signature at the bottom of the page.

"8!"

She thought back to her days with Team VII and how excited she was (albeit a bit apprehensive with Naruto's prank).

"7!"

She chuckled, it really was quite funny having seen Kakashi-sensei's head go whiter with the chalk dust in his hair.

"6!"

Tsunade reminisced about her little brother, Nawaki, and how they would countdown every year and pump each other up for the coming one.

"5!"

And how Dan would take her in his arms as he wished her a happy new year.

"4!"

And she'd tell him that it wasn't yet time. He had to say it to her as soon as it hit midnight, dead on.

"3!"

Ino remembered how Shikamaru's family, Chouji's family, and her family would all meet together on New Year's Eve and talk all the way into the night.

"2!"

How the three would always speak excitedly (or as much excitement Ino and Chouji could muster out of Shikamaru) about the new year and how fun the present one had been and how they could stay up past midnight.

"1!"

She chuckled, they never were able to stay up past one.

"Happy N-"

It was a huge surprise to Tsunade when she sensed something. Then she heard it.

"Rasengan!"

--------------------------


	9. Feeling Lonely

Title: Come Back to Me   
Series: Naruto   
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea.

A/N: Ah, okay, so I'm not the only one that though the capital thing was strange. Oh well, we'll see how it goes on with whatever format I use (I don't go back to change other chapters and stuff, I don't really like rewrites... Makes the reader have to read everything all over again and if it's a small change, they might miss it too... ehehe). Please bear with me for that. And I'm glad you guys like the cliffy cuz if I were to read someone's fic like that, I'd hate them (smiles) lol! Well, anticipate the next chapter so here you go, and yeah. )

----Last Chapter----

_The three girls were sitting on their beds also counting down and thinking about the past and coming year with not too many joyous accounts. It was a huge surprise to Tsunade when she heard a faint cry._

_"Rasengan!"_

---------------------

With great urgency in her voice, Tsunade cried out, "INO! Get over here!" Ino moved out of instinct and thankfully just in time.

BAM

Dust rose and the girls coughed a bit when slight bits of plaster and dust entered their windpipes. Then in a low voice, they heard a man say, "All right, Teams Four and Eight are out, finish up Seven and Five. To your appointed points in two hours, go."

The dust settled but Ino didn't need to see to know who was speaking. Before the three stood a rather tall man dressed in black and his head unseen. Behind him stood none other than her brothers, Shikamaru and Chouji.

Before anything could be said, Chouji ran out of the room to meet up with his team, but not before giving Ino a smile and a nod. Shikamaru hesitated, walked up to his sister, and hugged her. Ino smiled and knew that she was crying already, but he let go of her and quickly whispered, "Sorry, I have to finish up with my group too. I'll be seeing you soon, don't worry, you've got someone who'll take care of you. Chin up, be good, see you then." He abruptly left the room leaving Ino feeling somewhat cold.

The other two, during Ino's moment with Shikamaru, were looking at the man across from them. They couldn't see who it was at all. Then Sakura was shocked.

She knew that hand seal.

Suddenly, another two of the same person popped up beside him.

It had to be him!

"NARUTO!" she cried.

Tsunade too had recognized the hand seal and could barely contain herself. Tears began streaming from her eyes, but before either girls knew it, they were picked up (in some manner), one per person or clone, and then they were being carried out of their tiny room.

"Uzumaki... I, I-" started Ino.

"One thing," said the man, as if he didn't even notice that Ino was speaking with him, "you'll have to keep quiet until I tell you that it's safe to talk. We're, as you can tell, escaping from Konohagakure and bringing you to our RG camps. Stay quiet and we'll be alright, starting now." He said it so seriously that none of the girls dared say anything.

Sakura held on for dear life. 'Man, has it been this long? I don't recall having passed by trees ever this quickly...' She was being carried bridal style and she brought herself a bit closer to him. She smiled, 'At least I know he's alive and well. And... here with me.'

Tsunade felt like she was going to be sick for a moment before she controlled herself. She in turn was being piggy-backed. 'Heh, too heavy for you little boy, eh?' She mentally laughed but a smile was evident on her face. 'Good to have you back, otouto.'

Ino was the only one feeling uncomfortable. She too was being carried bridal style, but her hold was very loose on the man. She didn't dare look up, it reminded her too much of 'Hoodie'... who was actually Uzumaki. 'Idiot, I should never have spoken to him.' She'd have liked very much to squirm away from him and even do the running herself but she knew that it would be impossible to keep up with him.

'Sound-nins or Akatsuki minions (not the actual members mind you) would probably capture me and bring me back. If that were the case, Shikamaru and Chouji would worry again and- AUGH! Shut up Ino!' she screamed at herself. She remained mentally quiet and eventually fell asleep in _his_ arms.

---------Two Hours Later-----------

It was a slight jolt for the three when the man landed. They were standing in the mouth of a cave and looking further in, it seemed as if the cave itself was being swallowed by the darkness. It was still early in the morning, but the girls were all quite tired themselves (even though they did have short naps). The man hadn't ever stopped running.

"Come on girls, the cave won't eat you," he said with a bit of mirth in his voice.

'Yeah right,' thought Ino. But nonetheless, she went in without his prodding her back as he was doing to the other two.

Once they were inside, the three girls heard something hic and then a sizzle. Then a small fire appeared before them, but there was no smoke and it was warm. The girls huddled close to it very quickly.

"Oh yeah," the man said, "just remembered, it's all right to talk now. Heh."

"FINALLY!" yelled Sakura.

"Okay, I said talk, no yelling or screeching or anything of that sort!" His hands held onto the sides of his hood. He shook himself and walked over to one side of the cave, pressed in one loose-looking piece of rock and seemingly magically, a shelf flipped out with two blankets atop it. He tossed the two over to the girls and Tsunade took one for herself as the other two shared.

"Uhm, Uzumaki, if there's a fire here, won't the smoke get out and alert people of where we are?" asked Ino.

He didn't answer but Sakura piped up and responded.

"Well, if you look at it Ino, there's no smoke anyway. This has to be one of those special ninjutsus. Plus, why are you complaining? I'm so cold!" Sakura went up as close to the fire as she could and let herself sit with its warmth embracing her.

An awkward minute of silence ensued but eventually Tsunade asked, "So... can you take off the hood yet Naruto?"

"Yeah! I... I... haven't seen you for so long..." said Sakura, though she seemed shy near the end of her sentence.

Ino didn't say anything, there really wasn't anything to say. She desperately wanted to talk to him, but about what? She looked at the black void (his hooded face) and wished so much that she could have done something different back then (the last meeting that is).

"Uhm... would it surprise you if I told you it wasn't Naruto standing before you?"

Through the man's eyes he saw Sakura and Tsunade drop their jaws and gape at him like fish out of water. Ino on the other hand sat up tall, wide-eyed, but staring through the flames rather than at him. He smirked.

"But I was so sure it was-" - Tsunade.

"Naruto, if this is a trick, it's not funny at all baka!" - Sakura

Naruto gave it away when he laughed, it was like his laugh back from the Academy days after having pulled a prank. That was when all three knew it was him.

"Hehe, gotcha!"

He slowly took off the hood and Sakura gasped as did Tsunade. He had changed quite a bit. No longer the child chubby-faced boy did they see, but a handsome young man. He opened his eyes and Sakura seemed surprised to see that they were so blue. She hadn't ever noticed how beautiful his eyes were back when they were Team VII. Even his 'whisker' marks looked really cute on him. It bugged her a bit though to see that he was smirking at them.

Tsunade was grinning so much that she was sure she'd be stuck with that face after tonight. But how could she not be so happy? Her little brother was alive and definitely looking well. 'He has done quite some growing, hasn't he?'

Ino was the most shocked. 'His eyes... they're... back to normal. What happened to the red and..?' Questions ran around in her head making her feel slightly nauseous.

Naruto shifted from one foot to the other. "What? Something on my face?"

Tsunade burst out laughing and Sakura soon followed. Naruto looked from one to the other, but as Ino noted, he never looked at her. After the girls had calmed down, Tsunade stood up and walked over to stand next to him. She noticed that they were now at equal eye level. 'Dang, can't tower over him anymore.'

She looked him square in the eyes with a very serious face before slowly softening up. Wrapping her arms around him, Tsunade rested her head against his. Naruto could feel some of her tears as they slid down between his and her cheeks. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around his 'obaachan'. It had been long since he'd hugged her or anyone in fact, especially those he considered family.

They let go after a few short moments and Naruto knew exactly what she was going to say next.

"You still have it?"

"Think I'd lose it?" He pulled out her necklace and the other two girls stared at it in awe. It was a simple necklace but it was in its simplicity that its beauty was magnified. The fire's light glinted off of the precious ore, giving it an ethereal appearance.

Tsunade held it in her hands for a while. Having seen it, the onslaught of memories caught up to her and she had dropped her guard. In a few moments, all she could see in her mind's eye was Nawaki under a white sheet, a toe tag attached. Beside him lay Dan, another precious loved one. His eyes were open, looking at her in a pleading manner. 'Save me!' was the message they sent to her. Then, when she looked again, his eyes too were dead but accusative. 'You didn't save me... You didn't save Nawaki...'

She shook her head, 'No! Dan would never say that to me! Neither of them would blame me... I... I DIDN'T MEAN TO!'

She looked back but this time it was Naruto standing before her, holding her by the shoulders and calling out to her. She looked in his eyes and saw that he was worried about her. 'Wait... this... this is real! He's alive.' She double-checked and lowered her eyes to see the necklace dangling from his neck.

Tsunade looked back up at Naruto and began to cry once more.

Naruto knew that she would be all right. He held her, though rather awkwardly (but he di his best), and did what he thought would help calm her down. They were seated already and he just continued whispering comforting words to her, telling her that he was there, that Nawaki and Dan were still watching over her, and rubbing her back in a circular motion. He had predicted exactly what she had seen.

Some time had passed, Sakura and Ino were too wary to move over and intrude on the two. In all the time they had been together, Tsunade still hadn't told them about Nawaki and Dan, mainly because the two knew that it hurt her to remember. In the end, all they knew was that she was the granddaughter of Shidaime, had a younger brother, and had a boyfriend. That was it.

Naruto eventually moved the sleeping figure of Tsunade over to the fire and laid her down. He fixed her blanket to cover her body and used one of his spare jackets to make something akin to a pillow for her head. After this was done, he stood up, dusted himself off and headed over to the mouth of the cave.

Ino noticed this and called out, "Hey, Uzumaki, where you going?"

He didn't answer her.

Sakura thought it strange that Naruto didn't respond. 'I know that he has good ears, he had to have heard that. Oh well,' she shrugged, 'I'll just leave the matter be.' She in turn lay herself down to sleep and forced Ino to lie down as well, otherwise she wouldn't be able to use the blanket.

'Might as well sleep too,' thought Ino. But sometime during the night, she woke up to a slight rustling sound. She cracked her eyes open and noticed that Sakura wasn't next to her. She rubbed her eyes and sat up quietly to see Sakura moving towards the entrance of the cave.

Her curiosity piqued, she too got up (but took the blanket with her). She followed Sakura at a close distance, but with enough space to hide should Sakura turn around.

Sakura walked quietly and rubbed her arms thinking to herself that she should have taken the blanket, but that would have disturbed Ino's sleep. Oh well, she could do without. She was trained for this though... it had been three years since she'd done this. She almost found herself wishing for the warmth of her brothel room but stopped before she got any farther. 'Wow, talk about being ungrateful. Would never want to go back there and I never will, even if it was warm.' She shook the thought out of her head and continued forward.

There! Her goal. She covered his eyes knowing that he'd just use her chakra signature to figure out who she was.

Naruto was shocked, he didn't notice that someone had creeped up on him and what was worse was that he had no idea who was behind him! 'Crap! If someone's out here, someone must have reached the girls!' Thinking quickly, he grabbed the hands and twisted out of the way. He twisted the hands as well until they were against the perpetrator's back until he heard a yelp.

'Yelp? From someone who's supposed to be able to murder people?'

He looked down and freaked out slightly when he saw a mass of pink hair. He immediately let go of Sakura's arms and started checking them to make sure that nothing was broken or snapped or anything like that. Thankfully she only started to speak (though in a rather pissed off manner) to him, not yell, rant, or rave.

"Smart move baka! What did you think you were doing? You know I can't hurt you, even if I want to right now."

"Sorry, I..." it was hard for him to say. To admit to a moment of weakness. But she was Sakura, it would be all right. "I couldn't-didn't sense you."

Sakura looked at him owlishly, "You couldn't sense me? Baka, I was right behind you."

"I know that, it's obvious now, but I can't sense your chakra signature, even now."

This surprised Sakura greatly and as she stared at her arms, the blatant answer jutted out quite literally at her. It was the stupid bracelets. She chuckled a bit and even laughed when she saw Naruto's confused expression. Knowing that Naruto had no idea why she was laughing, she decided to play a little game.

"I know whyyyyy," she dragged out the word playfully, tilting her head knowing that this would irritate him.

Naruto arched an eyebrow, "Oh? Care to tell me?"

Sakura put on her thinking expression, lower lip slightly jutting out and eyes rolled to the left for more effect. She looked back at him, "No, not really. I want you to guess, I'll give you three chances!"

"You know I hate that game the most right?"

"Yep! Since the Academy days, which is why I want you to do this!"

Naruto would have smacked his forehead but decided against it. Might as well keep as many brain cells as possible to win this game. "For what evil reason?"

"To see you mess up three times."

She winks at him.

He hates her at the current moment.

"Well, come on!"

"Fine... is it because... your chakra levels are so depleted that I can't sense it?"

"Tch, no. Even if it was low you'd still be able to sense me. Come on, you can do better than that!"

"Can I blame it on being tired?"

Sakura stared at him. "No."

"Okay, all my guesses are up. So tell me the answer."

"I'm not stupid Naruto, you've only guessed twice, I want to hear the third ridiculous one. And put some thought into it eh? You've trained with one of the sannin and you still can't use that brain of yours."

"Whatever! He was a perv! You can't learn anything from him!"

"Guess already!"

"Fine fine." A sigh. "All right, how's about... Oh shoot, you're freezing!"

He was right. Sakura's lips were blue from the cold and her shivering had increased tenfold since coming to the mouth of the cave from the center of it. Naruto didn't have any extra clothes so he moved Sakura a bit further into the cave, sat her down with her back to his chest, and embraced her from behind.

'Bit of a deja vu for me,' he thought. 'Heh, maybe she'll forget abo-'

"Thanks Naruto, but I'm still waiting for an answer."

'Crap...'

Admist all his hard thinking, Sakura was able to relax in his embrace and feel his warmth. She knew that he was built, but she never knew he would end up like this. She felt so, at home with him, in this position. She rested her head against him and fit snuggly. 'Almost like... we were meant to be like this...' She closed her eyes and waited for his answer.

Meanwhile, Ino was staring at the two, trying to comprehend what was happening. Especially with what was happening to her. As she looked at them, sitting closely together in the same position, she couldn't help but remember that a few months ago, it was her in his arms sitting that way.

She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts, but one thought kept coming back to her.

'Why do I feel so weird seeing them... Why do I want him to be holding...' A slight break even in her own mind while confusion swirled all around inside,

'Me?'

--------------------------------

A/N: I feel horrid because this story is not being kind to Ino at all... Ehehe, but that's okay, I'm sure it'll all work out in the end. )


	10. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Title: Come Back to Me   
Series: Naruto   
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea. 

A/N:  
Kawaii-Gaara-Chan: Bracelets will come off soon enough as for who's better than the other, I can't really say yet. And sorry, I'm not big on OCs in more serious fics at least not for main characters, sorry!  
And this goes for everyone, questions regarding relationships/pairings will go unanswered. It's more fun this way hehe! Hmmm... wondering if I should put any warnings up for spoilers (as I do keep current with the manga). Ah we'll see.  
And another story you might want to check (written by yours truly heh) is called "It's Different Now." Featuring Naruto and Hinata, I'm trying to keep them in character but the storyline and all that jazz is not completely from the real world (so mixing AU and Canon World together).  
Okay, done with that, here we go! (Heh, I'll just repeat all that stuff at the bottom haha!)

-------_  
'Why do I want him to be holding... me?'_  
-------

Seeing the two sitting together, at ease with each other, Ino couldn't help but envy Sakura. After two minutes, she knew she had to leave. It was impossible to see them so close with each other and rather intimate. Though she would have liked to have heard Naruto's third guess. Silently she got up and tiptoed her way back inside to where she would find more warmth.

She was still awake when Naruto came in with a sleeping Sakura in his arms. He gently set her down beside Ino before getting up and walking back out.

'That's it, I have to say something. This is just getting on my nerves.' "Uzumaki." He didn't stop moving. "Oi, Uzumaki!" Ino was sitting up by this point having already covered Sakura with the blanket. He kept walking.

Anger flared through her. She stood up quickly and ran up to him from behind. Taking him by his arms she tried to pull him to a stop. In reality, it was _he_ that was dragging _her_ outside.

It was at the entrance that he stopped, shook her arms off, and turned around to face her. She was quite shocked now that he was actually looking at her and only her. It felt... strange.

"What do you want Yamanaka." She couldn't hide her flinch. "Well?"

"Look Uzumaki, I... I just want to say that- I... Sorry," she said finally, her eyes were looking elsewhere. She couldn't bring herself to look up at him directly anymore.

Naruto looked at her and after a pregnant pause, "Get back in and go to sleep."

It was like a slap in the face to Ino. "Th-that's all you're going to say?"

He grunted and jutted his chin towards the cave. It was her cue to leave him.

She silently stepped back, there was no point trying anymore. Turning around she headed back inside doing all this quietly. Naruto stayed put, he didn't look at her again.

---------Morning---------

The girls were up; Sakura fiddling around with the embers from last night's fire and Tsunade was helping Ino out with her memorization of the inners within the body. They saw Naruto coming in with three fish dangling from the strings he held.

He plopped them beside the fire then continued walking to the back of the cave a few metres away. He sat himself down, tucked his legs up to his chin, and wrapped his arms around them. He lay his head down but said just before, "I'm sleeping, wake me up only if there's an emergency. Night." Then he promptly fell asleep.

"Poor guy," said Sakura after a few minutes, "he's dead tired."

Tsunade nodded but Ino did not once look up at Naruto. She stayed by the fire and had already prepared the fish and put them in the fire to cook.

"Oi, Ino."

"What Sakura."

"Why're you so quiet? It's not like you. Something wrong?"

Ino shook her head and this really bugged Sakura a lot.

"Come on Ino, I know you better than that. Tsuna-neechan too. Please, we just want to help."

Ino refused to reply and kept shaking her head. What annoyed Sakura the most was that she didn't even bother looking at her in the face. More than the whole not answering her.

"Please Ino, if you tell us, I'm sure you'll feel better," put in Tsunade. It was obvious with the few creases on her face that she was worried.

'Yeah, telling them that I felt funny when I saw Naruto sitting with Sakura last night and how I wanted it to be me. Right...' thought Ino. Instead, she said, "Really, I'm okay. I'm just thinking about how right now we'd be at the brothel 'working' and how nice it is to know that we're not there anymore." She lied. Straight through her teeth. And she couldn't help but feel terrible for saying it too.

It is important to note that ever since the three girls had been roomed together three years ago, neither of them had ever lied to the other. It was a silent deal, never voiced and never really thought of, an abstract pact they had made with each other not ever knowing that it had been made. And Ino had been the first to break it. She couldn't help but feel that much worse.

---------Afternoon-----------

Growl.

Growl growl.

Growl growl growl.

"Ugh! This is getting far beyond annoying! I'm hungry!" complained Sakura. "I can't concentrate on anything when all of our stomachs are growling like this!"

Ino and Tsunade nodded simultaneously. They'd given up a half hour ago on studying the body's immune reaction to poisonous berries. Altogether, the three were reviewing the different bone structures and quizzing each other where this or that bone was found in the body, but their hunger was a constant distraction.

A rustling sound at the back of the cave made all three stop talking. Looking over, they saw Naruto get up (somewhat stiffly), straighten his back with air bubble popping noises included, relax, and finally dust himself off. He looked at the girls with droopy eyes and then, to the sudden surprise for the girls, his stomach too rumbled loudly.

He scratched the back of his head nervously, "Heh, yeah, my stomach's usually my wake up call. Anyway, I'm sure you girls are hungry so... I'll be back soon enough with some food." With that he passed the small group and headed out.

Tsunade chuckled, "I bet you he left so quickly not to get food first but to piss."

The girls just laughed along.

A while later Naruto returned again with fish but he held out six of them proudly. He figured that he wasn't the only one that would want to eat more than one and he was correct. The fish were finished in no time.

"Ahh, that was good. I remember your cooking now Sakura and I'll tell you, when you're at camp, you're probably going to join the cooking crew too."

"What? You've got to be kidding me! That's such a... lowly position..."

"Not really, actually everyone will look up to you. See, lots of us are guys and well, a lot of us tend to poison the food rather than cook it hehe."

Sakura and Tsunade just stared at him with deadpanned looks. He was joking, right?

"If that's the case, how did the RG groups manage to survive for so long?" asked Tsunade.

"You're being redundant 'baachan."

"Say what?"

"You said RG groups, but really, RG stands for rebel groups so you just said rebel group groups."

"Idiot!" WHACK. "Just answer the question already!"

"All right, all right, jeesh... anyway, Chouji knows how to cook and a few of the other guys like Neji, surprisingly, and Lee too."

"Lee? Neji? So they're all right!" exclaimed Sakura. "Oh, that's a relief, especially for Tenten and Hinata huh?"

"I'm sure they'll be happy to see each other."

They sat in a comfortable silence (except for Ino) and then Naruto began speaking again.

"Anyway, I forgot to tell you guys this too."

"Again? Another thing?"

"Yeah, uhm... we're supposed to stay here for three days, so counting tomorrow and today, we're gonna be in this cave till tomorrow night."

"What? I thought we were going to the camp!"

Naruto held his hands to his ears, "Sheesh Sakura! Keep it down will you? Man, we will but we can't all suddenly go there. Think about it, we all have pursuers after us and if we all lead them directly to the camp, well, that's not a good thing for us."

"That's true," started Tsunade, "the camp is usually where the wounded go and if we lead all our pursuers there, many more of us would be injured and all that."

"Which is why I'm glad that you are all becoming or already are qualified as med-nins. We're in a huge shortage of them as you can probably guess."

The two girls nodded solemnly. As if reading each others' minds they turned to look at Ino who hadn't said anything. Heck, she wasn't even looking at them, it was like she fell asleep with her head resting on her arms that tucked her leg close.

Then Tsunade destroyed Ino's illusion. She had seen her eyes move beneath her eyelids and knew that Ino was awake. "Come on Ino, I know you're awake." Sakura looked at her in a puzzled manner. "Her eyes just moved now, beneath the eyelids and sleeping people don't do that unless it's something like a nightmare. And if it were a nightmare, well, I'm sure she wouldn't be sitting still."

"Ha! She got you Ino, come on, say something."

Ino knew that there was no point trying to continue pretending. It'd just make her look more like a fool. "Guys, really, I'm fine. I am a bit tired but I'm fine."

"Tired? How can you be, we just slept like logs throughout all last night! Come on Ino, wakey wakey!" Sakura giggled.

Ino really wasn't in a joking mood and Sakura's voice was starting to irritate her. Not to mention Tsu-neechan's worry-wart voice too. "Seriously, I'm alright. Just let me sleep a bit okay?"

Tsunade noticed Ino's irritated tone and became wary. She also noticed that now it was Naruto who was silent. Well maybe that wasn't too weird since he didn't know Ino but it wasn't like him to not poke fun at some people either. Maybe he had changed over the three years, more than she thought.

Sakura persisted, "Sleep later, daylight's meant for people to stay up!"

Ino flared up, "SHUT UP Sakura! I just want some more sleep! I didn't sleep well last night and a lot of things are bugging me right now, okay?

Sakura surprised and hurt couldn't help but revert to her old self, "Well you don't need to YELL at me Stupid! Just telling me would have been fine!"

"I DID and YOU didn't LISTEN!"

"GIRLS!" shouted Tsunade, "Keep it down and calm yourselves! You'll only attract unwanted visitors."

Ino turned to face in the opposite direction of Sakura whereas Sakura got up and sat herself down next to Tsunade. Both of them were fuming inside. Tsunade heaved a sigh and wrapped her blanket around Sakura anyway. She wasn't pleased with either of them but there really wasn't much she could do. She barely really understood why both of them were so irked with one another.

Naruto was watching the entire time but remained silent. He couldn't help but notice how scary Yamanaka could be when she got mad. He was sure he was a part of the reason if not the entire reason why she was so irritable. 'Oh well,' he thought, 'I really can't care, at least not yet.'

---------Following Morning-----------

The previous night was like before: Naruto stayed out until the wee hours of the morning, came back in with food, then promptly fell asleep at the back of the corner issuing his orders once more. From Tsunade's point of view it seemed like the two girls had calmed down considerably as they weren't at each other's throats but neither had apologized to the other and if one didn't, the other wouldn't. Simple yet complicated in that manner.

She sighed. 'This is going to be a long day...'

Suddenly, breaking her out of her thoughts, Ino stood up and brushed herself off. She shrugged the blanket off and started heading towards the cave's entrance.

"Eh? Ino-imouto, where are you going?"

Ino paused slightly before continuing. She threw her answer over her shoulder, "Just out to the front of the mouth. I need some fresh air."

"But you'll freeze! You're practically wearing nothing!"

"Yeah baka! Get back here before we all catch a cold from you." Ino continued walking as if she didn't hear Sakura. The two watched her as she rounded a bend and could no longer see her.

Tsunade would have loved to have smacked her own forehead with her hand but managed to restrain herself. "Sakura," she reproached, "please don't start attacking her." So maybe the two girls hadn't calmed down.

"Hey, look at it this way Tsuna-neechan and I know you know I'm right. She's going out with almost nothing on, she'll catch a cold, we'll all catch that from her, and then what? We go back to the main camp ragged and in need of treatment? Please!"

"Look, maybe all she does need is a whiff of fresh air. We've been cramped in here for a while. It makes a bit of sense to go out and stretch."

"And if she gets caught?"

"Well..." Tsunade wasn't sure of how to respond and then suddenly without thinking, she said, "then she gets caught." She sat up and it was then that what she just stated that sunk into the minds of the two. But surely Ino could take care of herself, she wouldn't be so stupid as to get caught, would she? Tsunade started biting her nails, a sure sign of her being nervous and Sakura didn't like it one bit.

-------At the cave's mouth--------

Ino sat just before the opening of the cave keeping to the shadows and breathing in the fresh air. It seemed like a long time since she had last smelled it. It helped clear her mind and before she knew it, she wasn't half as angry at Sakura as she was a few minutes ago. 'Wow, this stuff really does wonders when you're cooped up.'

From where she sat no one would have seen her but she could see others. It gave her a sense of being a kunoichi again, watchguard duty as it was, even though it was short-lived.

Her ears perked up and she could hear voices... male voices. They drifted to her due to the wind and she could faintly pick up some words.

"... here... foot... st-... again..."

"Sure?... long and dark..."

"Scare- -at!"

"Am not!"

"Oh yeah, sure you're not."

"Hey, I can deal with killing people!"

"Yeah, but you can't deal with caves. Baby!"

It really frightened Ino when she could hear the voices clearly and the next thing worried her the most.

**Arf!**

A dog. It didn't matter anymore whether the people couldn't see her because a dog could always smell her.

"What's that Akiji? You smell something?" A few barks later. "Ha! He's telling me that there's a group that's nearby and as an educated guess, I'm betting they're in there!"

Ino saw them, they still couldn't see her but the leader of the group was pointing at the cave entrance. 'Ohhhh snap...'

As quickly as she could she ran back into the cave with light footsteps but she could already hear the men getting closer to the cave. 'Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!'

While Ino was still at the front, Naruto's sensitive ears had already caught on to the barks of the dog earlier. That woke him up and groggily he stood up. He had precious little time and the first thing he noticed was that Yamanaka was missing. 'Oh well, I'll just have to come back and pick her up.'

Sakura and Tsunade were not pleasantly surprised at all when they were suddenly picked up by Naruto and his clone. To each he told them to stay quiet and he put out the fire. The girls couldn't see at all and then they began moving.

Ino kept running back into the cave. As it became darker she followed the light the nin-fire was emitting until it suddenly went pitch black. She paused for a moment then remembered that she had to keep going anyway. Who knows, maybe the group behind her would stop too or maybe they wouldn't. Either way standing still was not an option. After a short while her eyes adjusted to the poor lighting from the cave's entrance.

She felt along the walls and luckily enough, she found the hole in which she had hidden in two nights ago. It was a little ways away from the centre of the cave but it was closer to that than the entrance. She backed up into the hole until she hit something squishy. 'What?' But before she could scream (which she would have regretted doing), a hand came over her mouth and a man whispered into her ear, "Stay quiet."

It was Uzumaki.

He gently relaxed his hold on her (thankfully she could breathe now) and into her hand he stuck something long and hard. Ino felt along it and figured it was a branch. 'Oooh... wonderful weapon 'cause I can hurt people that much with a stick...' She refrained from saying anything and instead listened to the voices as they approached.

**Sniff sniff. Sniff. Arf!**

"In here eh Akiji? Hey guys, there's a hole in the wall. Should we let lil Aki free and snap at whoever's in here?"

Laughter seemed to surround the two as the group continued even adding their own little remarks in.

"Yeah, tell Akiji that whoever he gets, he can eat later!"

"Hey hey, we haven't had good meat in a while. I'll eat the thing too!"

"Especially if it's a female!"

Another round of raucous laughter rose from the group. Ino wrinkled her nose and was wishing that she could go and sock each one in the face... and in the groin. Better yet, castrate 'em by using the darn dog.

"Awright Akiji, go!"

The man let loose his dog but it reared back when it saw a bright light. Ino's stick was lit! She stared at it (eyes adjusting to it faster than the others) and then she went on the offense. She swatted at the dog and then when it withdrew, she headed straight for the group.

Most of them were men and still stunned by the light. She sent the stick right into their faces hearing them scream as the hot bits went into their eyes. She did this to all while punching and kicking (the bracelets she noted, really hurt since they were heavy and well, hard). Out of the seven that came, five were down and it wasn't until one man caught her wrist, twisted it resulting in her dropping the stick (though it was three quarters burned already), twisted her arm, and pushed her up against a wall.

She struggled but couldn't move. She hated how the guy kept smelling her (and it pissed her off that she missed the chance at nailing in the face with the burning branch). "You smell nice, I wanna see your face before I kill ya lil girly."

He turned her around and gasped. "Lily!"

Had it been a cartoon, Ino's eyes would have popped out when she opened them wide in surprise at hearing her brothel name. She looked at him and then with disdain said, "Oh, you." She restrained from snarling. This was the type of guy who would get turned on from that sort of thing.

"Hey babe (he began stroking her cheek not caring that she was trying to get as far away from his hand as possible), been missin' ya. Haven't seen you since our last meeting two months ago."

"Tch, and a good thing that was. You were finally banned from the brothel."

"Oh come on Lily, I know you liked me best. You were always biting."

"Wish I bit your head off!"

"Heh, you can if you want to now babe, if you catch my drift."

Ino wished she had closed her mouth earlier on in the small conversation. Suddenly he forcefully pulled her hair up with his free hand and began licking her face. When he kissed her, she bit his offending and intrusive tongue making him recoil and curse her. 'Dang,' she thought, 'he didn't let go.'

"Oh baby, that's it. Now you're dead."

As Ino waited for his move, well, it never came. It seemed as though he was stuck in time, he didn't move, he didn't make a sound, he didn't even blink. 'What the crap?' Then he collapsed pulling her down as he still had an iron grip on her hair. She managed to pry his fingers away after getting her other arm free and looked to see what had happened to him. At the back of his head was a kunai deeply embedded into the cranium, blood oozing out of the wound. She pulled out the kunai and looked around to see what happened to the others. 'I knocked out five of them? No way! Wait... where's...'

She looked around and saw the dog lying in its own pool of blood. Its jaws had been snapped open but thankfully for Ino, the eyes were closed. She did not want it to look as though it stared up at her from where it lay. Two others were nearby, one male, one female. Their eyes were gouged out and their necks had been slit. Another one's mouth looked as though he was never born with one. Ino shuddered.

She froze as someone put both hands on her shoulders. Doing a quick check, Ino knew that there was a possibility of three others alive.

"You alright?"

She relaxed, it was just Uzumaki. "Yeah, I'm good." When he started to move his hands, however, she got an eerie feeling. He moved his hands closer to her neck where he started to slowly squeeze. Ino was frightened, she tried to pull his hands away but losing oxygen and fighting someone is pretty hard to do all at once.

"U-Uzu-mak-ki! What (gasp) are you (gasp) doing?" Ino strangled out.

"You truly are an idiot huh, Blondie." The man's voice had changed and Ino didn't know how much longer she'd last.

Seeing spots she knew she was going and she didn't even have the energy to scream. Suddenly the hands dropped away leaving Ino to fall flat on her face and take in big gulps of air.

"You alright?"

Funny, it was almost like a deja vu except this time, Ino was on the ground rather than standing. "It sounds stupid but is that really you, Uzumaki?" she said after regulating her breaths.

"Yeah. Come on, let's get you out of here."

Naruto walked over and rolled Ino onto her back. She was far too tired to care and too tired to move. He held her bridal style and then shot out of the cave.

-----------------------------------------

A/N: And another story you might want to check (written by yours truly heh) is called "It's Different Now." Featuring Naruto and Hinata, I'm trying to keep them in character but the storyline and all that jazz is not completely from the real world (so mixing AU and Canon World together). Or my NaruIno fic (for all you shippers) "Simple Smile." :)


	11. Safe For a While

Title: Come Back to Me   
Series: Naruto   
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea. 

A/N: Yoopa, short chapter but only because it fits to end it this way. Trying a more Tsunade/Sakura point(s) of view in this chapter.

----------------

Sakura and Tsunade didn't say a word until they were gently placed onto the ground by the clones. A little light came through from the trapdoor above and softly illuminated the various things (more like clutter really) around them. Boxes and boxes placed above each other, some rising to the ceiling, and random bits here and there. It was dusty but it wasn't too bad a place to stake out.

Only weird thing was that this was really the basement to a person's house (in the middle of the woods). On top of that, the house was actually well-kept on the upper level meaning that there was an actual person living here.

Feeling uneasy, Sakura voiced what both she and Tsunade were thinking, "Naruto, you sure, as in one hundred percent sure, that we can stay here? I mean, what about the person that lives upstairs? They're bound to notice that someone else is in their house..."

Even in the dim lighting Naruto's smirk was hard to miss. "Notice? Oh please Sakura, we're all shinobi. We don't leave any tracks behind, besides, I know the guy anyway. We'll be fine, trust me."

With that worry put aside, Tsunade's thoughts turned to another large issue. Ino. "Naruto, you took us from the cave but... what of Ino? She was at the front, did you find her? Is she alright? Is she-"

"She's fine, tired, but fine," cut in one of the clones.

"Where is she?"

"She's on her way here, no worries heh."

Even after hearing that Tsunade's worry did not disappear. Sakura couldn't help but feel worried for her sister, having been cooped up together for three years and then being ripped apart was hard, even if Naruto had assured her that Ino would be back. The clones looked at each other and one nodded, disappearing with a small puff of smoke lingering. The remaining clone began collecting loose bits of wood, paper, etc, and bunched them together. He used it as the base for some sort of light jutsu, similar to a fire, but not the same. The clone explained to Sakura (when she asked how it worked) that it used more chakra than the fire jutsu since it burned on its own. He also added a while later that he wasn't sure how long it'd last or even how long he would last.

Seconds turned to minutes to hours as the three waited for Ino and the real Naruto to return. The two girls started roaming the basement while the clone stayed by the nin-light. The trapdoor above had been shut so the girls stuck relatively near the light so as to see where they were stepping (Tsunade already had an encounter with a rat which spooked her slightly). In an instant, both the light and the clone disappeared leaving darkness and a dead silence after it.

"Sakura?"

"H-hai... Tsuna-nee-AIYA!"

A thud resounded in the dark room and Tsunade stopped moving. She didn't want to risk the chance of stepping on her little sister and instead started calling out to her, using her answer as a locator and to check up on her.

"You alright?"

"Yeah..." Sakura moaned, "I tripped on something but I'm okay." She slowly got up and hairs stood on end when she felt something scurry across her hand. "Tsuna... neechan..."

"Hai?"

"Do you like rats?"

"Not particularly."

"Okay, 'cause we have a resident rat around here and there's a possibility of it being a part of a large family."

"Super."

------Three Hours Later------

Tsunade and Sakura squinted as light poured through the opening from the trapdoor. It was a harsh light compared to the pure darkness they had for a few hours. Naruto came down the steps with a sleeping Ino in his arms. Sakura was surprised when she felt her heart skip a beat. He laid the sleeping girl down and with the previous bunch of scraps, he lit another light. He left the room for a moment, the lights upstairs turned off, and then the remaining two saw him come back down the steps after closing the trapdoor.

Naruto plopped himself down on the ground and sighed. Tsunade looked at him and couldn't help but feel terrible, he was dead tired. The bags around his eyes were starting to take on the same look as Gaara of the Sand, now Kazekage. 'Least last time I heard of him he was still Kazekage. Hope that hasn't changed.'

"Naruto, why don't you just sleep. You don't have to keep the light going, Sakura and I'll be fine. We can take charge for a short while and we know, we'll only wake you if there's an emergency." Naruto looked at her with nothing but gratitude in his eyes. He didn't speak but he extinguished the light and he too, was soon out like a light.

"So..." started Sakura, "what are we up to now?"

"To be honest Sakura, I just want to sleep too heh."

"I hear ya."

Time passed and Tsunade smiled in the dark when she heard a light snoring coming from her right. Sakura had fallen asleep. To her left Naruto snored too, just a level higher than Sakura's in terms of loudness. Across from her she could hear Ino's rhythmic breathing. It soothed her to hear all three breathing. 'But, I still think going through remedies and pain killers is just as relaxing. Heh.' She slowed her breathing and began concentrating on different medications, their compounds, and the effects they have on people.

She was startled out of her concentration a long while later when she heard movement across from where she sat. It seemed like Ino was waking up but then the movements stopped. 'Probably just switching sides to sleep on,' she figured. She nearly jumped up in surprise when Ino began speaking.

"What? Where am I? Hello? Anybody?" Tsunade wasn't sure whether or not she should answer. She was hesitant because though it was Ino's voice, it didn't sound like her in the least. She'd never heard her sound so afraid, perhaps she was just sleep-talking? "U-Uzumaki...?" She could still be sleep talking but Tsunade wasn't convinced of that anymore. "Tsu-neechan? Sakura?" Ino's voice had become clearer, the grogginess of her sleep had left her as adrenaline rushed in waking her up. She never really did like pitch black places much when she was younger.

Tsunade decided to answer, "It's all right Ino-imouto, you're safe now. But!" she hastily added when she assumed (correctly) that Ino was about to talk, "the others are sleeping so try to keep your voice low, 'k?"

"Un." A break, "So, where are we?"

"You're in a basement right now of someone's house. Naruto's assured us that it's okay to stay down here. To your left is Sakura, to your right is Naruto. Wake him only if there's an emergency and yeah."

"Why're you telling me this?"

Tsunade couldn't help but smile somewhat evilly, "'Cause I'm tired and I want to sleep. Yay for you, you get to hold fort! Nights!" She promptly lay herself down on the ground and soon her snores joined the chorus with the other snores. Ino yawned while shaking her head, laughing to herself of Tsu-neechan's ways of delegating responsibility.

---------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Teehee, I love the AIYA part from Sakura heh, so Asian (lol). :)   
Yeah, I'm getting slower (muuuuch slower) at posting chapters up (and even slower at writing them... ) so sorry! Just... I guess, don't expect a chapter per week...? (sweat) ehehe. I guess I'm losing the interest, but I'd like to finish this one or the other fic. Anyway, that's all for now. See ya then :D


	12. Are You Scared of the Dark

Title: Come Back to Me   
Series: Naruto   
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea. 

A/N:  
yume-takato: Sorry but uhm, this story won't finish in the next five chapters ehehe... To be honest, I'm not too sure when it'll finish (but I'm reaaaally hoping I don't pass the thirty mark cuz I know, it gets really dragged on).

Hope this chapter doesn't count as a filler chapter... ehehehe (sweat) I'm trying to pick up the pace (since it has slowed down considerably) and I know, the story seems really angsty and all that so I'm gonna see if I can up the mood if not in this chapter, the next and get this story moving on. :)

----------------

Time passed, but whether it was in minutes or hours, Ino could not tell. Feeling restless and struggling to stay awake, she stood up to stretch and after a couple satisfying 'pops', she felt bored.

Then she smiled remembering how Shikamaru, Chouji, and Asuma-sensei would used to depend on Ino to map out areas that they were going to move in. It helped a lot how Ino could use Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind/Body Switch Technique) to take over a person's body and see what the place looked like first-hand rather than the group hiding and methodically analyzing the different parts to picture the area. And if taking over someone's body wasn't possible, Ino was always the best at picturing the terrain within her mind.

'Might as well start re-training now,' she thought. Encouraged, but slightly saddened, Ino began walking around, being careful not to step on anyone (especially Sakura -she was sprawled out on the floor-). She felt along the walls and could begin to mentally see the layout of the room.

She walked in and out of rows, presumably shelves (similar to a library) and was feeling rather proud of herself. 'You've still got it.' In her happiness, Ino began forgetting to concentrate on the overall layout of the room rather than just the section she was in. So at the moment, she had covered two thirds of the room but had already forgotten a huge quarter of it. That or she mixed up the different sections she had already passed.

Ino stopped after she stumbled over a loose piece of floorboard that was sticking up. She daren't sit down (with the high possibilities of rats, she really didn't want to chance sitting on one) and instead began to plot the layout of the room in her mind.

'...' Break.

'Crap! I forgot so much already! I think the shelves go on that side and the tables were in that corner and this quarter of the room... Was that chair and those boxes beside that table or up against the wall on the other side...'

It was then that Ino suddenly realized how closed in she was. The room was still pitch black and she couldn't see past, well, past nothing. Her hand that she waved in the dark was seemingly invisible. She began breathing heavily.

'You're still in that big room, and it's not like you opened a door and entered a different dimension. You're fine, you'll be okay. Nothing's going to happen...'

But try as she might, her age-old fear of the dark was slowly grabbing onto the corners of her conscience and tugging her into its world. Her eyes were clenched tight but even when she opened them there was no difference in her environment. She was feeling slightly dizzy and out of reflex grabbed onto whatever was close to her.

It was a shelf.

Hope flashed in her eyes, 'If I just feel my way back, I should be fine. I'm sure if I touch stuff I'll be able to remember things more clearly.'

Unsteadily, she began walking back the way she came from, or so she thought. Within a few seconds, she had encountered a wall. 'Okay... that I don't remember... well, let's try going back.' One second, she met another wall.

'What!?' alarmed, Ino tried the other way. 'Another wall!?!' She was frantic. 'It's okay, there's still one more way out.' She was literally gasping for air now. However, she did manage to find the open end of the corridor that she was in (and eventually figured out where she was) and walked out but kept a trembling hand on what she dubbed, 'The Guiding Shelf'.

Ino was making progress until something brushed against her leg. 'One rat. That's fine, it's just one-' Another came and this time she heard it scurry away. 'Okay, tw-' She tried to keep walking but another furry something brushed against her leg and by her tenth step, she stepped on something soft. It squeaked furiously and a chorus of other squeaks followed.

Ino was panicking. She stepped back and tripped on something, landing on her butt but was on top of another soft mound. She screamed and started running away from the mess she was in but of course, she had no idea where she was going. She ran into shelves, she ran into tables and chairs, walls too, and in the midst of all this, she missed completely the calls (quite nearby) of those searching for her.

-----others-----

Naruto was the first one awake when he heard something scutter (yes scutter, not scurry) a few inches away from his ear. Annoyed, he couldn't get back to sleep but he was still tired. He stretched himself to relieve the kinks in his stiff body and while doing so, Ino screamed her first scream.

At this the other two woke up and finding it was dark (and forgetting where they were) began feeling around to find the lamps they would have had on their sidetables. Naruto freaked them out for a short moment when he said hi and that was when Ino screamed a second time.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked, annoyedly (and somewhat crankily. He is losing precious sleep at the moment and a girl screaming her head off wasn't helping).

Neither of the girls answered him, they just started yelling Ino's name in hopes of finding out where she was exactly. The light taps on the floors (presumably from the rats, but only Naruto could tell) and Ino's footsteps could be heard, but they echoed too much in the room. Then something fell which hit something else which hit something else and ended in a domino effect behind them (thankfully they didn't sleep near the dusty shelves).

"What's going on?!" yelled out Naruto one more time.

Tsunade kept calling Ino's name leaving Sakura to the explanation. (Nobody moved since a) it was dark, b) moving would just complicate things).

"Naruto, Ino... She..."

"Just spit it out already."

"She's claustrophobic."

"What? Why? And what's that got to do with this?"

"Okay, she's claustrophobic and is scared of the dark." Sakura exhaled, feeling like the world was off her shoulders but instead was replaced with Jupiter. She and Tsunade had never told anyone about Ino's psychological problem(s) since Ino didn't want others to know and she was now the first to break that silent promise. But it was for a good reason, she should be fine, right? It's not like Ino would want to hurt her afterwards for 'spilling the beans', right?

"So yeah, claustrophobic, but this room's huge. Dark, well, she shouldn't have moved in the first place."

"Naruto... tell me, can you see anything in this room?"

"No, I can't."

"Exactly, so to Ino, this entire big room is really just a small compact cubicle. Just trust me on this, she's not fine and she needs help. Could you start a little of your chakra-fire, just so that we can find her and calm her down?"

As Sakura said this, Ino screamed again but it sounded like she was crazy. "Sakura, Naruto!" yelled out Tsunade, "Could we get some light in here already?! Ino needs help!"

"She needs to help herself."

Sakura turned back around to face Naruto (after facing where she thought Tsunade was) and pleaded, "Please Naruto, we need light." A few seconds passed. "N-Naruto...?" Another few seconds. "Naruto? Naruto! Naruto!?"

-----Ino-----

She tripped on a box and came crashing down. She tried getting up but instead, she curled into a ball, hands over her ears, legs to her chest, and her mouth gaping wide in a silent yell for help. Her eyes were clenched closed and memories flooded her mind. Unwillingly, she went along with them.

_Four-year-old Ino sitting in bed crying. It is time for bed but her mother is not around to hold her, her father is away on a mission. She is alone._

_Six-year-old Ino, found after hiding (while playing hide-and-seek in the dark) in the flower shop's basement. She was found after four hours of hiding in the dark (she had been trapped in her spot)._

_Thirteen-year-old Ino shuddering in the night while Shikamaru, Chouji, and Asuma-sensei are in another tent sleeping. She is the second one on watch duty and it was the first time she dozed off while on duty. Within minutes, the camp is trashed, and everyone is fighting for their lives. Team X wins, Chouji is severely wounded and Ino cries while Asuma-sensei tries to close Chouji's stomach wound. That was the mission that Ino began feeling inadequate as a kunoichi._

_Fifteen-year-old Ino sitting in a room, much in the same position that she is in now. She is in a dark cell where the only light that comes in is when a metal door slides open to give her food. Once it shuts, the light seeps through from the crack at the base of the door, but it is not enough to light up what food she'd be eating. _

The most recent memory haunted her, it haunted her for three years. She wasn't sure why, but she couldn't remember anymore than that portion of that flashback. After that, she was always in her room along with Tsunade and Sakura. Though how she made it into that room she couldn't remember much.

A light shined in her eyes but Ino didn't see it. She looked straight on but unconsciously wrapped her arms around the person near her. Where he or she came from, who they were, and what they would do to her were questions that never came to mind. At this point, she wasn't even really, alive.

Naruto wasn't fully surprised when she wrapped her arms around him, but it alarmed him to see her in the state that she was. Her hyperventilation state worried him and he managed to calm her down to a regular breathing pattern but it was her wide-unseeing eyes that scared him the most. 'Because they remind me of me?'

He winced and suddenly his chakra-fire went out. The fire had reached his fingers without him noticing. He wrapped his arms around Ino's frail ('didn't seem frail earlier') form and pulled her to his chest. In a few moments, his left arm supported her from the back of her knees while his right arm kept her close. Naruto stood and made his way back to the other two girls while calling out to tell them to calm down.

The two females stopped dead in their tracks when he spoke and almost started yelling at him (Sakura mainly) for not telling them that he had left until he said that Ino was fine. They both knew he had her. Once they touched her though, they calmed down considerably. Naruto gently withdrew himself from Ino's grasps (she had fallen asleep) and put her in Tsunade's care. He straightened himself up, started a mini-light and told the girls to wait. He'd be back. They watched him walk up the steps, open the trapdoor quietly and close it gently once he was out. They could hear him walking upstairs, but they had no clue what he was doing.

'Oh well, best concentrate on Ino first,' thought Sakura. She rubbed circles slowly on the girl's back while Tsunade kept Ino close to her chest. They remained this way for a while but when the trapdoor was thrown open, the light that streamed from the upstairs lights nearly blinded the pair. Ino's eyes fluttered.

"Well well well, what do we have here? Why, I do believe that is a trio of fine lookin' ladies and they're all for me!"

"WHAT!?" shouted Sakura, alarmedly.

"Thas right lil lady," said the man at the top of the stairs, "you, Ms. Busty, and sleepy girl are all mine. Hehe, you've been borrowin' my basement and well, this ain't a bad repayment from that no-gooder kid!" 

----------------------------------------------------

A/N: Oooh! Hope this could count as an evil cliffie! (bwahahha) but that guy seems so... un-Japanese (lol). And did you know (I'm guessing not) that if you type 'Shadow of Archon' (sans les ') you'll actually get a site? Weird. So, I'll see you on the next chapter!


	13. Are We There Yet

Title: Come Back to Me  
Series: Naruto  
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea. 

A/N: Yeah, this story isn't going to end for a while, and it won't be coming up for a while. I'm sending this chapter in while at my dad's workplace so I'm really sorry (no Internet at home). There aren't going to be too many chapters up for a while (least it lets me run ideas through my head before writing down a really crappy story!). :) Anyway, here's chap. 14.

----------------

_"Thas right lil lady," said the man at the top of the stairs, "you, Ms. Busty, and sleepy girl are all mine. Hehe, you've been borrowin' my basement and well, this ain't a bad repayment from that no-gooder kid!"_

-----------------------

"What?"

It came out as a whisper. Sakura wasn't able to make it any louder.

The middle-aged man smirked as he came down the stairs agonizingly slow. The two girls were too shocked to move. He finally reached the floor and quickly reached out with his good arm (his left was in a sling).

Tsunade looked at how he not only grabbed but began crushing Sakura's wrist, bringing her to her knees under the excruciating pain. She couldn't scream, she wouldn't scream. After being in the brothel for so long, it was engrained in her mind that noise would not help the pain. After a long moment he released her and she brought her arm close to her chest. Tears spilled from her eyes.

Seeming already bored with his first new toy, he turned to Tsunade. Tsunade continued holding onto Ino but her mind was almost completely collected after the shock and she held onto Ino closer. Her glaring eyes had no effect on the man and it wasn't until Ino fidgeted that she realized she was clutching her too close. Her nails left marks in the soft skin.

Tsunade didn't bother looking at Sakura because she knew she'd be able to take care of herself and plus, the man's attention was away from her.

"Awww, so you're the mommy of the three. How cute."

"Screw off."

"Nah, rather screw you." He laughed when she glared at him. "You've got a nice little bundle in your arms. That other one, she's feisty, but I'm not in the mood for her type yet. Just pass over Sleepy and be a good girl by waiting for your turn."

"Tell me," she started (he looked at her questioningly), "who so-called _gave_ us to you?"

"Don't be coy, you know it was the blond kid."

"Wh-what!? No... He wouldn't..." started Sakura. "He wouldn't give us to you!"

The man laughed again. "Man, you two are unbelievably _stupid_! Of course he'd give you to me! He owes me big time for using my basement so much. Especially when he comes over with his other bloody friends and when I say bloody, I'm quite serious about it."

"Friends?" asked Tsunade.

"Yeah, one's got blackish hair, the other's got blue. Can't say much else, never seen their faces."

'Black? Blue? Black might be for Shikamaru with this lighting but blue...?' thought Tsunade. 'Probably another Rebel member.'

So engrossed in what they were doing that none of them noticed the new figure standing at the top of the steps.

"Heh." Suddenly the man turned around to catch hold of Sakura's fist again making her disappointment with herself grow. But she continued with her left fist but stopped short when he kneed her in the stomach. She grunted and collapsed, clutching her mid-section. "I know, you're a girl, but to tell you the truth, I could care less whether the one I hit is a girl or a guy."

He left her there and he whirled around backhanding Tsunade on the cheek. She hadn't expected it and within moments he was sitting on her back, his legs straddling Tsunade and facing away from her face, with Ino in his arms. Sakura hurt too much to go over to help ('It's been so long. These are petty pains but they hurt so much!') and could barely concentrate on anything else but trying to soothe her pains.

"Quite the catch this one." The man leered at Ino's sleeping form. When Tsunade struggled beneath him, he simply elbowed her hard in the back to make her stop momentarily.

"Don't touch her!" warned Tsunade, extremely angry being unable to see what he was doing to her dear sister.

"Shut up wench," he replied. He quickly cast a look over at Sakura but she seemed harmless. Turning his attention back to Ino, he gently ran his hand through her long hair while his left arm supported her back. His eyes roved her body and his right hand found its way to her stomach. He started reaching lower...

BAM

Ino was knocked away from him towards Sakura. She tumbled and after stopping, winced while opening her eyes and after seeing Sakura rushed over to her. While holding her sister by the shoulders, she looked back to see Tsunade standing, towering over the cowering man.

Her fingers flexed.  
Her knuckles cracked.

He was going to be in a lot of pain at the end of this session.

But she wasn't the only one standing. Next to her stood Naruto, at least, Ino was sure it was Naruto. After the (violent) beating and tying the man (who happened to be named Koron) to one of the pipes in the room (that ran through the floor to the ceiling), Tsunade rushed over to her little sisters, relieved to find that both were fine. Ino, funnily enough, had no idea about what just happened.

While still trapped in Tsunade's bear hug, Naruto's voice cut through the silence.

"We're leaving tomorrow morning."

The voice also cut through Tsunade's heart. She slowly released the two younger girls and turned around to glare at him.

"You sick thing." She literally spat out 'thing'. "Putting us all in danger like that, what were you thinking Naruto!?" Sakura and Ino shied away from their older sister.

"Well, technically, he was right. I gave you guys as payment."

Silence reigned.

Then a sob.

Ino turned to look at Sakura and held her as she cried softly into Ino's shoulder. Ino wasn't crying, she wasn't sure of what to think. By holding her sister and rubbing circles, she could distract herself from thinking. Yet, 'We were payment chips?' kept running through her head.

"How- You- I don't even know what to say to you. I... I'm..." Tsunade sighed. "I'm really disappointed in you." She looked away, she didn't want to meet his eyes (or was it that she couldn't?).

"Yeah well, like I was saying, we leave tomorrow morning." Sakura looked up at him asking him a question with her eyes. "And just so you know," Naruto seemed to have added this as an afterthought, "even though you guys are payments to him, I'm taking back the payment too."

"You're such a jerk."

Luckily for Naruto, Ino wasn't looking at him and so she missed his eyes widening abruptly at her comment before relaxing again. Sakura saw it though and again, she wondered why her heart skipped a beat like last night. He turned his head to face her and Ino but by then, he had schooled his face back to impassiveness, a technique he had mastered with difficulty.

Seeing that neither of the pair had anything else to say, he turned around and headed back up the stairs. Once the trapdoor was shut, all the girls became temporarily blind and the only light seeping in was through the cracks in the door. They stayed quiet until the door reopened (again blinding them with the sudden light pouring in) and Naruto came down with a tray in his hands. He set it down and on it was food. Simply, lovely food.

The trio's stomachs growled in agreement.

Naruto chuckled and set about preparing a sandwich. A slice of bread, topped with butter, then in slices: turkey, chicken, roast beef, some lettuce leaves, tomatoes, and then topped with another slice of bread.

The three practically fainted on sight. It had been a while since they had eaten.

Then it happened. The most evil thing in the world; he put the sandwich in his mouth.

Bite.

Chew.

Swallow.

Repeat.

They watched him eat the entire sandwich, all on his own, knowing full well the famished stomachs of those only a couple metres from him. The worst was yet to come. He looked at each girl (too stunned to do anything) and as his eyes landed on Ino, he smirked. His attention returned to the tray in front of him and again, he ate another sandwich. He even smacked his fingers at the end.

By the time the girls realized what had happened, the tray was empty, devoid of all its contents it had minutes before. They looked at each other and in silent agreement ran (more like charged) at Naruto screaming battle cries. That, he didn't expect. He jumped out of the way in time and as they chased after him, he smiled (but that they did not know).

He stopped in one room and the girls (huffing, having used all their energy chasing after him with their bracelets still on) slowly walked towards him. It seemed ominous until he flashed them all a bright smile. His eyes lit up and both Tsunade and Sakura knew something was up, though it wasn't a bad something at the same time.

Ino looked at the two wondering what was going on and was surprised when they relaxed their bodies. She remained rigid and returned her glare back at Uzumaki. 'What did he do to these two!?'

Naruto shook his head when they didn't do what he expected. His expression deadpanned and his lower lip jutted out, exaggerating the effect, and said languidly, "Look around you, ladies."

The other two obeyed and smiled upon realization of where they were and what was before them. Ino remained wary of Uzumaki and until prodded by Sakura did she tear her eyes away from his.

Her eyes widened when she figured out that she was in the kitchen of the house. On her right was the stove and to her left were the sinks. It was small but tidy (unbelievably with all the rats in the basement). To Naruto's right stood a table laden with...

FOOD!

Oh wonderful, **glorious,** food!

The three girls rushed in and were soon stuffed. Naruto chuckled as they wolfed it all down and felt just a bit better after having teased them in the basement.

Hours passed and the girls were comfortably sleeping on the couches but Ino woke up having slept for most of the day. She sat up on her couch and when she heard a mumble, through the drowsiness, she managed to locate Uzumaki's position in the living room with the help of the soft glow he held in his hand.

"What'd you say Uzumaki?" No answer. "Uzuma- oh forget it." She kept her eyes closed and sighed. Okay, so she was still a bit tired, but her mind definitely wasn't. Then she heard another mumble. And another, and another.

"Okay that's it Uzumaki, what are you trying to say and or what do you want." It was more a statement than a question (and she did say and or separately).

"I said why aren't you sleeping?"

The sudden intrusion of his voice made her open her eyes. She looked across the room at him (sitting cross-legged on a single seater) and replied, "I'm just not tired."

"You look it." He looked at the bags underneath her eyes yet her eyes shone brightly so he knew that she wasn't lying. His gaze softened. "Alright, you're not, but you should try to get back to sleep. We've got a long day ahead."

"What about you? You're going to be carrying us again so shouldn't it be you that sleeps? I can always sleep while we travel."

"I guess, but I don't sleep easy."

Ino hmm'ed in agreement then settled herself back down on her couch pulling the blanket to cover her. Her eyes closed but she immediately opened them (and gasped lightly) when the soft glow in the room disappeared. It returned right away.

"Right, forgot. You're scared of the dark."

Ino huffed, "I'm not scared of the dark!"

"Hey hey, keep your voice down. The others are sleeping and yes you are. You passed out while we were in the basement. Nothing else could have knocked you out unless you were paranoid about something."

"Uhm, you do know that there were rats down there right? I'm not particularly fond of them."

"So the rats made you pass out."

"No!"

"Yeah they did."

"No they didn't!"

"So did."

"So didn't."

"So did."

"So didn't."

"So didn't."

"So didn't and I'm not dumb enough to fall for that."

"So would."

"Oh shut up!" Ino threw a plump couch cushion at Uzumaki's head which he caught with practiced ease. "And I'm **not** afraid of the dark!"

Uzumaki rolled his eyes and yawned making the light waver. An idea came to mind. He quickly stopped sending chakra to his hands and the chakra-light died. He heard a gasp but this time he didn't immediately restart it. He paid close attention to Ino's breathing and noted that her breaths became shorter and sharper.

"Uzumaki..." She mentally cursed herself when she heard her voice tremble but as soon as she whispered his name, the light came back on. Her eyes narrowed, "Tch, jerk."

"Ah, you said that before and I gave you food. You say that again and I give you light. How am I a jerk?"

'You're just playing with me, that's why.' Ino wasn't too sure why this was annoying her so much, but it just seemed like Uzumaki was even more infuriating than ever.

So they sat in a somewhat comfortable silence interrupted every now and then with a cough or a snore session from the Sleeping Duo or a clearing of the throat from Ino, but Naruto never made any noise. It unnerved her somewhat the silence of the previously known as "Konoha's Number One Hyperactive Ninja", 'but I guess people really do change while there's a war going on. I think I have too.'

"Hey."

His voice made her jump in her seat. It just seemed so loud after listening to all the quiet sounds for the past who knows how long. "Yeah?"

"Honestly, are you afraid of the dark?"

His voice seemed so sincere (and maybe even a bit concerned?) that after a while, Ino felt she had to answer truthfully.

Dropping her volume she said, "Yeah, a little bit but it wasn't this bad before."

"Not this bad?"

"Mmhmm," she nodded. "I used to just curl up into a ball (Uzumaki nodded at this) but I've never passed out before."

"Think you know what made you like this?"

Ino shook her head. "No, but I'd really like to know. It's..."

A moment's silence. "Yeah?"

"It's just weird. I have all these bad memories about when I was younger and being stuck somewhere dark, but there's one incomplete one."

"How's it incomplete?"

"I think I'm about fifteen, sixteen, and I'm in a dark room where there's light coming from beneath a door and a hole. But only when the hole's open do I see the light and a tray of food is given to me but as soon as that happens, the hole's closed up again. Once it's closed, I can't see anything and with the amount of light that I have, I can't see what's on the tray. It's weird, I don't know why I have this memory, but... it's just... strange." It wasn't until a few moments later that Ino realized that she just spilled out something to Uzumaki that she had never told the other girls. 'What is going on with me?'

The two continued to talk a bit more and unbeknownst to them, there was another listener in the room. 'I'll be needing to talk to that boy soon.'

------Later-----

Light streamed through the windows as the sun rose.

Ino had fallen back asleep earlier in the night while she and Naruto somehow got onto the topics about favourite foods (tomatoes for her, ramen for him). She was still sleeping by the time the other two had woken up and all three had eaten breakfast.

"Oi, Ino."

_Shake, shake. _

"Ino-chan." (Ino-imouto). "Wake up already." Half a minute. "Ino!"

_Grab, shake (violently). _

"Forget it, we're leaving now and if she falls off my back, it's not my fault."

"Naruto-"

"Leave it imouto, it's true that we have to leave. We're already very late in reaching our rendezvous point."

"Hai, Tsuna-neechan."

Two pops and in a few minutes, all six were ready to leave. They replenished their food supply (generously donated by the unsuspecting Koron) and were just about to leave when they heard a faint cry from the basement. The Naruto clone set Sakura down and told them he'd be right back. He descended the stairs and was back in a few minutes. When asked what had happened, he gently told Sakura to climb back on and soon they were all jumping from tree to tree towards rendezvous point 2, quietly.

-----RV Pt. 2-----

They landed in a clearing a few hours later with the clones disappearing at once and Naruto stumbling a bit. He set Ino down (she had woken up) and then walked around trying to regulate his breathing (he hadn't stopped moving since that morning). It was like a blessing having not encountered any enemies while on the way there. The girls managed to set up a fire and took out some food from their packs.

"Ne, Naruto?"

"Hm?"

"You used us as payments to that Koron guy because you were there before, right?"

"Oh please Sakura, not this again."

"No, it's something else." (Sakura didn't let it show, but she was surprised how Naruto had so easily dropped the -chan from her name.)

"Then what?"

"He said that you were there before but with others."

"He said **_what_**?!"

Sakura stepped back a pace even though Naruto hadn't moved from his position. His eyes, which moments before were docile, were now flared and shone with anger (at who?).

"I-he..." Sakura hesitated before continuing, "he just told us that. That's all." She was too frightened to finish (well, starting really) asking her original question.

After Naruto rested, they were on their way again. This time, to the base camp.

-----Camp-----

"Shikamaru..."

He sighed. "Chouji, I know. I'm worried too, but I trust Naruto has everything under control."

Chouji stared at his leader, team captain, and above all, friend, with a frown on his face. The other was on his back watching the clouds but to his chagrin, they remained where they were. They did not move across the sky as he had hoped they would.

Team Seven's group was very late in reaching Camp and had not yet radioed in.

Both remained where they were for a few minutes before a small commotion in the camp caught their attention. Shikamaru reluctantly stood up and followed his friend who was already walking towards the steadily growing group.

When they reached what was going on, no one noticed either of them until Shikamaru spoke quietly, "How troublesome."

Everyone stopped. The two on the ground paused in their fist fight. One of them had a fist mashed into their cheek while that one kept his teeth in the other guy's shoulder.

Shikamaru sighed again (it was a rather common thing for him to do). "All right, Kiba, get off of Rie. And Rie, stop antagonizing him. You're still a new recruit under his orders so you'd best get used to it. Save your energy for fighting the enemy, not your team captain."

"What?! This jerk wanted-"

"I don't care!" Oooooh... Shikamaru was mad. "You will follow his orders and his orders come from me. Know this, I will pull you off your team if something like this happens again."

"I didn't do anything wrong!"

"You nearly told everyone here what your team's plans were and you know that each cell has to keep them secret. Again, if you manage to do something idiotic like this again, you will return to cooking duty. Am I understood?"

"Yes cap'n."

Kiba was smirking while this happened (the two males had untangled themselves) but winced when Shikamaru turned on him. "You, my tent, now."

"Yes, sir." (Rie smirked back at Kiba.)

Once inside, Shikamaru sat himself down swiftly and began rubbing his temples. Kiba looked everywhere but couldn't bring himself to look at Shikamaru. He felt bad, but at the same time, he was kind of glad Rie got pissed. It gave him an outlet to vent his anger.

"Kiba. You're a captain and the training nins are looking up to you. You have to start acting up to expectations." Kiba remained quiet but Shikamaru could tell he wanted to talk. "You can talk."

"Look," Kiba turned to look at his leader and his anger was evident, "I don't know how you can stay calm knowing that Ino's out there somewhere but for me, I want to go out and look for Hinata. Shino's anxious to know how she's doing as well. You've kept me in camp and yes, today was actually my fault. I was the one that told Rie that he had to go out and act as bait but I was just saying stuff. You know how I am when I'm pent up like this in, in, this **cage!**"

"I may look calm on the outside Kiba, but I am worried for Ino. You haven't seen Hinata-kun, but she was here. I sent her out along with Konohamaru and Neji to get medicinal herbs. She'll be back within a few hours."

"She was here and you didn't let either of us see her!?"

"Because I knew that if you did you'd never let her leave!"

"She just came from a brothel! She's not ready to-"

"And that's the attitude I expected. You know me Kiba, I wouldn't send out a team if I knew that not all its members were ready. She had rested and she agreed to go out. It's not as if I forced this task upon her. Oh, and Shino, Chouji, you might as well come in."

The zipper at the front of the tent was pulled up and Shino and Chouji both crawled in. Neither seemed embarassed being caught eavesdropping and Kiba immediately tried to get help from Shino.

"Shino, he-"

"I know. I heard. She's fine, my insects told me," replied Shino, his voice a rich bass tone. "But Shikamaru, we really have to get those bracelets off the rescued girls."

Kiba was a bit ticked that Shino brushed him off so easily, but he knew that if Shino was okay with the situation, then he should be too. He resigned himself to simmer a little in his pot of anger but within his mind, he turned down the heat level by a good five notches. With the entrance still open, Akamaru poked his head through the tent and yipped a bit feeling happier when his master rubbed his head (there wasn't enough space in the tent for Akamaru to fit in).

"That's right Shikamaru. Tenten-san, Kurenai-san, and the other kunoichi from the brothels need to get their bracelets off. They inhibit their movements and they don't allow for any chakra control," said Chouji.

"_And_ he let my sister leave camp with those things on..." mumbled Kiba, whom everyone ignored at this point.

"Actually," Shikamaru rummaged through a pile in the corner and he pulled out a box passing it to Chouji, "this should work." The others leaned in to look at it closer. Forgoing the simple details of the box (plain, dark wood colour, flip open lock), Chouji opened it to reveal a key. "Erun (another low-rank nin-in-training) was the one that made the key. He's sure that it'd open the locks on their bracelets."

"And you're sure this will work?" asked Kiba.

"Positive. He was being taught key smithing by his father. It was one of the things he had to know while watching over the family's supply store."

"...right..."

Akamaru barked and pulled back before running towards the surrounding trees. Kiba immediately took after him as did the other three.

Upon reaching the area, all four smiled at those standing before them; Naruto, Tsunade, Sakura, and Ino were finally here.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Oooh, FINALLY (right? hehe!). Made it (to camp) :) Took long enough, but here we are! On with the next chapter!


	14. Socializations and Complications

Title: Come Back to Me   
Series: Naruto   
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea. 

To Soul of the Silver Phoenix: Heehee... Once I reread my chapter, I realized that he did seem quite a bit of a jerk, but trust me, he's still nice! I'll be trying to correct that view soon and a bit in this chapter.

To DJ Rodriguez: Oh, he 'used' them as a payment to the Koron guy but he actually did need to use the basement anyway. So kind of like killing two birds with one stone except he gets to keep the stone after too hehe.

A/N: A bit of a goodie this time 'round (longerish chapter). I spent quite a while doing this (when I should have been finishing my Bio homework...) so yeah, here we go then!

-----------------------------------------------------------

The sun shone in the afternoon but no one below took notice. The final rescue team had finally arrived and they seemed safe and sound.

"Ino!"

Ino turned towards those that had called and immediately her face brightened. "Shikamaru! Chouji!" The two boys jumped from the ledge they stood as she ran to them and soon they were together, closed off to the world in their own group hug.

Sakura and Tsunade barely had time to smile at the three before another team returned. This was the one that was sent for the medicinal herbs in the area.

Kiba's eyes bugged out before he began shouting at the top of his lungs, "HINATA!!!" (Even though she was only a few metres away.)

Neji set her down (he was piggy-backing her since she couldn't run as quickly as the other two) and instantly she was off to meet Kiba and Shino. They too ended up in a group hug and seemed comfortable in each others' arms. They did not say much to each other; they had been together long enough to not always need words to communicate. Akamaru barked alongside them and Hinata crouched down to hug him and pet him.

Hinata had changed over the three years. Her hair had grown longer (ending just above her chest) and her body had filled out. She along with Ino, Sakura, and Tsunade still wore her kimono from the brothel and also had the bracelets latched to her wrists (Tenten and Kurenai also had their bracelets but they had already changed into the 'uniform' provided at the Camp.)

With all the commotion, it was not long before a "NEJI!" was heard and before he knew it, someone latched onto his back (he knew it was certainly a female). Quickly disengaging himself and ready to reprimand his 'attacker', he paused when he recognized Tenten.

The large grin on her face had Neji stunned for a moment (since Tenten was usually a docile girl or was before at least) and the fact that her hair was down shocked him to his core. For as long as he had known her (since pre-academy days), he had always seen her hair up in their two buns. But now that they had disappeared (and the hair certainly hadn't -it ended at the small of her back-), Neji couldn't help but think that Tenten was no longer a little girl but a grown woman.

"T-Tenten..."

"Ha! I've got Neji, the quiet, sensible, somewhat philosophical kid to stutter! Oh man, this is great!" Tenten laughed and to her surprise, Neji chuckled. Quietly mind you, but he did nonetheless. Perhaps he was feeling a bit odd at finding a childhood friend there with him, well and alive (for he had not seen her when she first came to Camp. He had to leave immediately with Konohamaru and Hinata to retrieve the herbs). In her happiness, Tenten asked, "Ne, any news about Gai-sensei or Lee?"

It worried her when Neji suddenly faced her with a dark look (not of anger, but 'Sadness? Neji's sad?' - Tenten) and said, "I'll tell you about them later." He paused, looked at her and tried to gauge her reaction to his words. "Just not now."

As this happened, Kurenai saw her ex-subordinates and rushed to them. She had just finished cleaning up the mess area (eating area) and heard from a random passer that two groups had returned. Curious, she went to see them and then she saw her past-genins.

Through her tears of joy she managed to say, "It's so good to see us all together again and that you are all well." The others nodded and did not consider her words as cliche or cheesy.

Pouting (since no one was running to him), the last member of the retrieval team turned and...

planted his face in Tsunade's ample bosom.

One second passed.

If one looked closely at Tsunade's stoic face, they might've caught a slight twitching action beneath her right eye.

Then the second.

The kid still hadn't moved. Tsunade's fists clenched.

Third second.

Still no movement.

Fourth second.

_Twist twist_. Her eyebrows knitted together.

Fifth second.

_Turn turn. _"Twerp..." she said with an underlying tone beneath.

"Huh?" said the kid, "Tsunade-obaachan...?"

The twitching was now evident and her aura of anger was building. 'Obaachan!? Nobody but Naruto calls me that! I'M NOT THAT OLD!'

"Ha!?" Tsunade while simmering did not notice the teenager pull himself away and was now looking at her dead in the face. "It is Tsunade-baba!" He said, smiling.

She got a good look at the face. "KONOHAMARU!" She charged. He ran away laughing (but scared all the same. An angry Tsunade is not something one wishes to be close to).

"Heh, it's just like the first time we met, ne?" He taunted. But as he turned back to see her reaction, he found that she was only a couple steps away. 'Oh shoot! RUN!' In the end, Konohamaru found Moegi and hid behind while using her as a human-woman-shield.

Moegi, to say the least, was very confused but happy in general to see Tsunade-sama again.

Sakura giggled as she watched the interaction between Konohamaru and Tsunade (though she knew how much Tsunade cared for Konohamaru because there was no other way she'd let any other do that to her ever. Or let them get away with it so easily). With Tsunade gone, it left her and Naruto together.

"Ne, Na-"

"Don't say my name." He said it curtly and at a near whisper.

"Heh!?" she exclaimed indignantly. "Why not?" She slightly glared at him with her arms akimbo.

He looked around (inconspicuously) before telling her in a hushed voice, "Just don't alright? Here, I am known as 'Tails' and if you were as responsible as I last remembered, then you would do as I say. People aren't to know of who I am."

Ticked, yet having her responsible nature challenged, Sakura nodded and proceeded. "Anyway, _'Tails'_, what do you guys do here?"

"For the new recruits and the rescued, you will start your training tomorrow morning. Once you're ready, you'll be sent on missions and all that," he replied, reverting back to his normal voice.

"And when will we be ready?"

"Dreamer'll tell you."

"... Uhm, Tails, you forget, I don't know everyone's code names yet..."

"Right. Sorry, just... tired. Dreamer's Shikamaru."

Sakura laughed, "Yeah, that suits him. A little bit of a girly title though, isn't it?"

Tails shrugged. "He chose it."

She shook her head, "You'd think he'd choose something else like thinker or leader. Well, I guess leader would make it too obvious as to who to hit first but thinker might've been a better choice."

"Nah, once they realize that he's the one with all the great ideas, he'll be just as big a target as if he was known as leader."

Sakura sighed, "I guess." 'I wonder what my name will be.'

"Dreamer! Roller! Tails! Guard! Silence! Seer!" cried out five voices. Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned back to look into the trees, trying to find the callers. Within seconds they arrived but the recently rescued knew only the face of Kotetsu.

Shikamaru disengaged himself from his group and asked, "What's wrong?"

The team of five walked towards him but Kiba managed to pick out, "We were -- forest -- two -- Akatsuki." 'This can't be good,' he thought.

After a bit more discussing, Shikamaru called out instructions among which the girls were to rest in one of the meeting tents while the others were to meet in another tent a little distance away.

"And before I forget," he said. Shikamaru ran back to his tent, opened a box and pulled the key out. He hurried back and began unlocking the bracelets to all the girls' disbeliefs and reliefs.

"I-I-" Tenten kept stuttering in her state of shock, "Th-they're off! They're off!!!" she exclaimed. "But my arms feel weird now..." Tenten began rubbing her arms, trying to rid her memory of them being weighty and getting used to the bare feeling.

Kurenai and Tsunade said their thank-you's to Shikamaru and also rubbed their arms. Sakura was overjoyed and pumped the air the way Inner-Sakura would have (and inside, Inner-Sakura was just as energetic).

When Hinata's came off, she immediately felt the wonderful sensation of being able to recognize chakra signatures again (though not as well as before, yet). That feeling alone left her unimaginably happy and then she noticed it. She sensed a familiar chakra but she couldn't fully put a name on who's it belonged to. She gave her thanks to Shikamaru and that was when she first saw him. The hooded man.

For a good minute or so, she kept her eyes on the still figure and was broken out of her reverie when the figure began walking towards the other meeting tent (Kiba and Shino had already started walking towards the tent after being ordered by Shikamaru to do so. They did so reluctantly however).

'Anou... eto... It really feels like it but... is that really N-Naruto-kun?' Her hands unconsciously came together and she held them to her chest.

The last to get her bracelets off was Ino. They fell off her wrists onto the soft earth, clanking a little but Ino didn't hear or see that happen. Once they were off, Ino seemed to have blanked out. Her eyes were slightly glazed and her posture swayed but was rigid as well. She looked at her arms and could see the faint difference in colours on her arms after having those bracelets on for three years.

Shikamaru was about to shake her but then she suddenly blinked successively, rapidly and shook her head. After that, she seemed to be fine. Seeing that she was okay, he led the girls to the tent but kept Ino outside. Unknowingly, by being worried, he kept his head down while trying to think and it wasn't long before Ino started asking questions.

"Oi, Shikamaru, what's up with you?"

'Shouldn't I be asking her that?' "It's Dreamer around here."

This caught her off guard. "Dreamer? Wh- oh, code namey thing. You do that in the Camp too?"

"It's to make it second nature. Don't want to foul up on a mission, right?"

A few seconds passed before Ino lightly punched him on his shoulder. "Look, if you're gonna talk to me, you might as well look at me. Or else there really is no point. I feel like I'm talking to a wall though, mind you, the wall can answer back. But it still feels impersonal." She smiled when he raised his head but it dimmed a bit when she saw his face. She hadn't looked closely enough before but now, in the light of the setting sun, he looked weary and quite a bit older than 18.

"Shika-Dreamer," she quickly corrected herself, "what is it?"

He shook his head (lowering before raising, she noted), "I'm just sorry." 'At least she seems to be all right now.'

"For what?"

"Heh," he inhaled deeply and exhaled, "I didn't get to see you until today and we've barely had a chance to talk before we have to split again because of work."

Ino smiled, encouraging him, "It's all right. I know you're busy and you're pretty much the head man here. You're always going to be busy but now that I'm actually here," she winked, "I'm sure we'll find some way to have our old team-bonding time."

Shikamaru didn't say anything, just merely nodded, smiled at her and almost hugged her. Instead, he decided on a patting of the shoulders before heading off to his meeting.

'Man,' thought Ino, 'he really is working hard. He hasn't even said anything about work being troublesome.' Ino suddenly felt very strange. 'He always said that work was troublesome...' She turned to look at his retreating back and a slight frown overtook her smile and her eyebrows came a little closer together. 'I hope he's all right...'

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, took a deep breath, and entered the tent.

Already inside the girls were cheering and chatting with one another. Ino couldn't help but think that had this been a blast-from-the-past moment, the only thing needed to add into this sleepover-like picture was sake. 'Yep, that'd definitely complete this scene.'

Tenten was with Kurenai-sensei, trying to practise with a kunai ('Where in the world did she get one so fast?' - Ino) by twirling it like she used to. She was doing well for a few turns then suddenly, the kunai flew off her finger and landed right beside her foot. Both she and Kurenai paused, looked at each other, hesitantly smiled and they stopped for the meantime.

Hinata was observing Sakura-chan and Tsunade-sama talking while also trying to figure out if they would say anything about Naruto being that hooded person. It was very unlikely though since they were talking about the entire muscular system within the human body.

Ino noticed Hinata-chan all alone and went over thinking she might want some company (and even if she didn't, Ino didn't mind at the moment to sit alone and think). "Ne, Hinata-chan? You happy?"

"Eh?" Hinata turned to look at Ino-chan, somewhat surprised that she would talk to her (though they had corresponded by hidden messages in meals before). "Ah, hai. I'm glad that the bracelets are finally off although my arms do feel a little bit funny."

Ino tossed her head back, laughing, "Yeah, same here. But it's so good to have them gone. Hmm..." It was as if her thinking cap was suddenly placed on her head.

"What are you thinking Ino-chan?"

"If we melted down the bracelets, they would probably bring in good money. That, and you don't stutter anymore!"

"Ah, huh!?" Hinata's eyes widened. "I-I-I d-don't stu- Oh, no..." she said dejectedly, "I still do. Not as much but just a little..."

Ino smiled and put her arm around Hinata's shoulders, "Trust me, it's a lot better. I would stutter too if I were caught completely off guard like that hehe!" Ino inwardly smiled as Hinata relaxed and grinned as well.

Then an idea struck Hinata, maybe Ino knew whether the hooded man was Naruto-kun! It was worth a shot asking. "Anou... Ino-chan?"

"Hmm?" Ino cocked her head to the side with the remnants of her smile left on her face.

"A-a-anou..." Hinata unconsciously ducked her head and began poking together her index fingers, creating a portrait of her childhood self, "would you by any chance know if-"

"Hey girls!" cried out Tenten, "I know what we can do! Let's play Truth or Dare!"

Having been interrupted, Hinata stopped her question as the others stared dumbfoundly at Tenten.

"Oh come on! I know you guys want to do _something_ and what better else than a game like that?"

Sakura commented, "Well, it's usually a night game, just before you sleep, and why would you want to play that? It's so... so childish!" (Of course Inner-Sakura was rooting for the game to proceed.)

"Well, well," replied Tenten, "it seems like little Sakura here has something to hi-ide," she said in a singsong voice.

"I so don't!"

"Oh yeah, suuure imouto," said Tsunade, sarcastically.

"I wouldn't mind learning of your secrets either Tsunade. Like how you look so young," taunted Kurenai.

"Ha! I'm totally natural." Tsunade seemed a little bit offended but no one took notice.

"Oh, don't lie Tsu-neechan," teased Ino.

"I'd like to play." The other girls stopped and turned to look at Hinata.

"Well," said a somewhat surprised Tenten, "since Hina-chan says she wants to play too, then we all play!"

'Whatever did happen to the calmer Tenten? Neji's going to get a kick out of this crazier one,' thought the rest.

"I start! Since I called the game and I pick..." Tenten's eyes narrowed and they landed on, "Sakura!"

"Heh!? Why me?"

"Uhm... because I chose you? You **do** know how to play Truth or Dare, right?"

"Of course!"

"Woulda never guessed. Anyway! Truth or dare?"

"Truth, 'cause I have nothing to hide."

"Oh, then are you in love with someone?" she asked giddily.

Sakura ducked her head but her blush was evident. "Yeah..." she answered quietly. Some of the girls squee'd but Ino felt uneasy with that answer.

"Who is it? Who is it?" pressed Tenten.

"Hey! One question only! So now it's my turn. I pick Ino! Truth or dare?"

Ino turned to look at Sakura before an idea popped into her head, "Okay wait, before I pick, let's set some rules (some of the girls groaned). Hey, they're needed. Okay, no more than let's see... three truths in a row and if you pick dare, the darer has to keep it within this tent. We are at the Base Camp now, so no fooling outside where we could endanger others. All right?" The girls nodded in agreement and then refocused on the game, "Okay Sakura, I choose... Dare."

Sakura snickered before realizing that, since everything was confined within the tent, there really wasn't much to do. She pinched her lips together and to the others, it was almost as though steam was coming out of her ears from thinking too hard. Her eyes squeezed shut then suddenly her head shot up. "I dare you to walk like a chicken and quack like a duck!"

The girls groaned. "You really can't think of anything else more original imouto?" asked Tsunade. Kurenai silently nodded, Ino stared at Sakura point blank while Hinata seemed a little bit lost. To her, doing that would be absolutely embarassing!

"Oh, whatever. It's easy enough to do, so quack! Quack! Quack!" quacked Ino with her hands drawn in and flapping her 'wings'. (It was still a little bit funny though.) "My turn! I pick Kurenai-sensei."

"Kurenai's fine, Ino."

"Ah, hai. Kurenai-sen- aiii, that's going to be hard to change but anyway, truth or dare?"

"Truth," she said simply.

"Do you really love Asuma-sensei?"

"Ino!" cried out Sakura, horrified at what her sister just said.

"What?" Ino looked at Tsu-neechan and then realized what she just did. "Ah! I'm so sorry Kurenai-sensei! I didn't mean to-"

"Don't worry. I'm okay with it." Kurenai's eyes were lowered but you could still see the red tinge in them and how they were watering. "I believe that he's still alive." She breathed in deeply and then answered again with a simple voice, letting no one make a mistake in believing that she was lying, "I do." Then she smiled softly while lifting her gaze to meet Ino's.

"I know you miss him just as much as I do, though of course in a different manner." Ino nodded and berated herself for having asked the question. "So, it's my turn now is it?" Kurenai's voice had lifted and become flighty, returning to the happy-go-lucky atmosphere that disappeared a few moments ago. "I choose Hina-chan."

"Eh!?"

Kurenai laughed, "No need to be worried Hinata. This is a relatively harmless game (having used the word 'relatively', Hinata couldn't help but remain somewhat tentative and still very nervous). Truth or dare?"

"A-anou... I say..." breathe in, breathe out, "dare."

All of the girls seemed taken aback. Hinata, choosing dare on her first turn already? You'd think a yes or no question would seem a lot simpler.

"Hmmm... a dare. I can see why Sakura was having so much trouble thinking of one. There really isn't much to dare a person to do while in this tent."

"See," said Sakura, feeling a little bit better, "that's why I couldn't think of anything embarassing to make Ino do. At least not yet."

Kurenai finally thought of something, as simple as it was, "I dare you to kiss the back of your hand as if you were kissing your dream lover."

Hinata would never have had the time to hide her blush became it came as soon as she heard the word 'kiss'. To add 'dream lover' on top of that was almost too much to bear. She held out her left hand and looked at the back of it and she couldn't help picturing Naruto-kun the way she last saw him (it was in the Konoha Hospital and he was there because he had burned his hands again while practising Rasengan -which she still doesn't know about-).

The girls watched as Hinata focused intently at her hand and watched her bring it close to her mouth. After a quick peck, a small squeak, and maintaining a flushed face, Hinata picked Tenten next.

'I wonder if that was Naruto she was thinking about,' thought Sakura, echoing the same thoughts all the others had. Ino again felt a little bit unnerved but not completely sure as to why.

Tenten being bold also picked dare and Hinata, believing herself to be too harsh dared her to dance on the spot.

"Eh? That's it?" asked Tenten. "Nothing more... challenging...?" Hinata violently shook her head no because in her mind, dancing would have been worse ('Okay, maybe not as bad') than the dare she just completed.

Tenten did a little jig not feeling embarassed at all and then asked Tsunade to choose. Tsunade decided on truth.

"Wow, I get to ask Godaime-sama a question that she has to answer truthfully on. Hehehehehe," she snickered, "I've got a good one."

"Bring it," said Tsunade, seemingly a bit uncharacteristic of herself (according to Hinata and Kurenai at least).

"How old are you?"

Ino and Sakura gasped together. This question could spell out a disaster if Tsunade became highly upset over it (to say the least). Both turned their attention to their older sister, noting that she had her head down with her hair covering her features. There was no telling what she was thinking.

"Tenten." - Tsunade

"Ah, hai?" She was getting a little bit nervous with the sudden mood swing in the atmosphere.

The sound of a shuddering breath being drawn in. "Do you know what you've just asked me?"

Tenten was starting to feel even more nervous and began regretting her question. "I-I... I can change it if you want!"

"But that's against the rules..." Tsunade's voice seemed rather menacing now.

"I-I-I-I-" continued Tenten, sounding like a broken record. "I-I-I-... Uhm... ah-"

She was cut off when the entrance to the tent opened and in came Kiba with a "Yo!" A few seconds passed before he registered the somewhat hostile air and unconsciously began scratching his head and redirecting his focus everywhere else but on the girls.

Kurenai, feeling brave and curious asked what was happening and why he came in. This snapped Kiba out of his uncomfortable phase and set his mind on reporting to them the news as best as he could.

"Our meeting is over and we're here to escort you to your sleeping tents. You'll be broken up into the groups you came here as but there's also some things about tomorrow." He took a few seconds to continue calming his nerves. "Tomorrow you will be woken up in some way, you'll head to the river to wash yourselves and clothes will be provided. Then you'll be taken to the mess area for breakfast followed by your first training session. You'll continue on from there. Good?" (By this time he was completely calm. Seems odd, a calm Kiba, doesn't it?)

The girls acquiesced and out went Tenten (glad to be away from Tsunade-sama at the moment), Kurenai (thankful for Kiba's interruption for once), Hinata (still nervous about Tsunade-sama's reaction to the question and her Naruto-kun-kissing moment), Sakura (still worried about Tsuna-neechan), Tsunade (who outwardly seemed to have recovered), and lastly Ino (who was also worried about her sister).

"Ino." It was Shikamaru standing a few feet away from the tent. She hmm'd in response while looking at him quizzedly before following him just a little distance away from the rest of the group.

"What is it?"

"I was just wondering, if you want, you could stay with Chouji and I in our tent. Like you said, catch up on bonding time, right?"

She smiled but teased a little too, "Well what about changing? I can't stay in your tent for that. And who knows what would happen in the night."

Shikamaru let out an exasperated sigh and with much effort, bonked her on her head (lightly enough). "You know we wouldn't hurt you and we'd just change outside."

"I know, I know. I'm just joking!" Her eyes lit up and so did his, just a little though. "All right, sure why not? Actually, let me ask the other two first because... well..."

Shikamaru was a little worried since she seemed a little troubled. "Well what?"

"This would be the first night that we'd be sleeping separated... Ah well, I'll go ask." She soon returned reporting that the other two were fine with her staying with her teammates.

"But only those two," commanded Tsunade.

------------Midnight, Tent, Shikamaru, Chouji, Ino--------------

It had been two hours and Ino still couldn't sleep. She was sitting at the entrance with her legs drawn to her chest and through the material she could see the faint glow of the fire only a few metres away. Wrapped around her to keep her warm was her blanket.

She blinked slowly and then she heard voices by the fire. This woke her up a bit more and she strained to hear what was being said but could only figure out that one was a female and the other was a male. The words were too muddled up.

------------Midnight, At the fire--------------

Naruto was the only one there sitting on a dead log. He rested his head atop his crossed fingers and looked to the sky.

'Why?' he thought. 'Why do I keep thinking about her?' He lowered his gaze to the small fire and added in another log. 'It doesn't make any sense. Sure I'm not always logical but this right now is completely _ill_ogical.'

From his viewpoint he looked at all the identical tents surrounding the area, 'I mean, why is it that I'm worried for her?' His eyes narrowed as he refocused on the fire. 'Really, I barely even know her! Why do I ca-'

"Tails?"

Silently cursing himself for being caught off guard, Naruto turned to Tsunade. "Hmm? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"I would but there's something important that I need to discuss with you right now. Can you come with me to my tent?" He silently stood up and followed Tsunade back to hers and Sakura's tent, somewhat wary with the serious tone she was using.

Once inside, he grinned a bit when he saw Sakura sit up with a tired look and rubbing her eyes. Her hair was messy and she obviously didn't notice that he was there, otherwise she would have started to attempt combing with her hands.

'Which she'll do right about... now.' As if she heard him, her eyes widened upon seeing him and immediately she tried to flatten her hair. Tsunade just put her hands on both of Sakura's arms, indicating that that didn't matter at the moment (plus, most of it was down and Sakura was starting to pull out a few strands as well).

"So," he started, quietly, "what's this all about?"

"It's about Ino." Sakura and Naruto immediately became more serious. He even pulled his hood back enough for them to see his face but kept it on. "I overheard the two of you talking last night."

That caught Sakura because she had not known of his and Ino's late-night-to-early-morning conversation. 'What could they have been talking about?'

"I just want to say, please, Tails, do not bring up that dream of hers ever again."

"Dream?" asked Sakura, "What dream?"

Naruto was surprised. "She didn't tell you about it?"

"Actually, she didn't tell either of us. You were the first to hear about it and if I wasn't pretending to fake-sleep, then I wouldn't have heard it at all."

"What dream?" persisted Sakura, annoyed at being the one left out of her sister's life.

Tsunade and Naruto looked at each other and then nodded. Tsunade retold the dream to Sakura and immediately Sakura caught on to its implications.

"Definitely, Na-Tails, don't remind her of it. It's best if she forgot all about it."

"Why's that? What is it about anyway?"

Both girls took in deep breaths before taking turns recounting the months when all three were captured. Sakura started. "The dream is really a memory of what happened in the whore house. It pretty much explains the reason for her claustrophobia. It all starts back to when she was captured..."

-----Flashback-----

Ino had been the last to be captured out of the three but she lasted a mere two months more than the others. By then, Tsunade had already been put to work and Sakura had started table dancing and lap dancing.

"Ya little brat!" yelled Boss at Ino, "You **will do** as I say!"

"Forget it! Dancing like a whore isn't something for me! Go ask a skank to do that but I won't!" she screamed back.

"Oh, you know that if you keep disobeying me, it'll be Busty who gets your punishment. You wouldn't want to do that to her now would you?"

"Ha, disobey, I can't disobey you because you're in no position of higher authority over me. Plus you wouldn't harm her. She's too 'valuable' for you to hurt."

"Really?"

"Please, Ino, try to calm down a bit." Tsunade had only been working for two weeks and already she knew how serious Boss could be. His punishments hurt (as she experienced the first month being trapped at the brothel).

"Calm down? _Calm down_!? Oh please Tsunade-sama (they did not know each other well back then yet), he's only spouting out hot steam. It's just all words and no threat."

"So that's what you believe huh?" Boss suddenly grabbed Tsunade, flung her against the wall and drew out a whip that was kept in his back pocket while keeping her up against the wall. "Still think that I'm just spouting out hot steam?"

"I still don't believe you. It doesn't even make sense for you to punish her instead of me if I'm the one not listening to you."

"But it does. You see, you'll grow to become fond of Busty, plus, you're not the type to just sit back and watch others get punished because of your wrongdoings Konoha-nin." He spat out the last two words as if they were filth in his mouth. "So," he raised the whip, "still think I'm lying?"

"Yeah."

CRACK

Tsunade did not whimper nor scream.

Ino stared wide-eyed at the red mark that appeared across Tsunade's back and flinched when Boss whipped her again.

CRACK

Then again.

CRACK

And again.

CRACK

"STOP!"

"Sure, but only if you'll do as I say."

"Fine! Just stop hurting her!"

For the next week, Ino learned lap dancing from Sakura, show dancing, and 'body molding' (in which the 'bought' rubs against the 'buyer' and doing more unmentionables). By the end of the month, she had become one of the biggest starlets within the brothel (much to her displeasure and disgust). Her moments of rebellion were less but still present. Her biggest rebellion but worst too was to come.

-----------------------------------------------------------

A/N:D Hope this chapter went well but I probably won't post in a while (that's why this chapter's relatively longer, hoping to satiate a few heh) since exams and stuff are coming up. Gaaaah, the girls seem so week (grar!) but they're really not! I just had to put it in so that Rebellion Phase didn't last for too long. Just think of the punishments to be your worse nightmare come true and all the evil things you could do to a person. It's pretty much like that.

But to everyone: have a Happy New Year! (I know I'm a bit late but it's all good heh)


	15. Back Then

Title: Come Back to Me  
Series: Naruto  
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea. 

A/N:  
Theteacher: Hee, thanks :) It is hard to do this in Ino's POV since we don't really see her much at all in the manga (I've stopped watching the anime since the fillers started).  
Soul of the Silver Phoenix: Ehehe, actually, most people aren't to know that he's alive ehehehe. Again, the reason will be given out later (evil smile) lol

Here's the next chapter. Sorry for being so slow, I'm just so busy... (blargh, school haha). But yeah, here we go!

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The notable rebellion of Ino's was accumulative. It started little, such as refusing certain customers or demanding for more sleeping hours. Eventually, Boss resorted to his destructive choice.

-----Brothel-----

"I said NO!"

The man was absolutely furious for once again, Ino refused to work as a 'money maker' (as he put it). Not to mention that she was back talking while in the bar of the brothel. Most of the patrons had stopped, even those getting their services because really, 'what kind of sex slave talks back to her master?'

"You will do as I say Lily, or else."

"Again with the 'or else' (cue eye roll). Honestly '_Boss_', is that how you always finish your sentences? It's no wonder you're not steady with any girl, you're robotic and your vocabulary, upon many other things, is lacking."

From all around the workers gasped. No one had ever refused Boss (at least, not for long) and especially not embarass him while in public! Feeling uncomfortable and incredibly pissed (to put it lightly), he went up to Ino and pulled her by the ear back to her shared room as she yelled in his ear. Tsunade and Sakura were inside, somewhat surprised, but this was becoming a bit more of a regular occurrence.

"Let go!"

He did but also threw her onto Sakura's bed. "Look you, if you really want, I will give you an ending to that 'or else'." He smirked as a thought entered his mind, "You could even ask either of these two to tell you of their experience in what we here call, 'The Hole'."

Sakura and Tsunade did well in pretending as though the other two were not in the room, but inside, they were shaking.

"Great, a _hole_. Big whoop. I'm not scared of the dark or whatever it is that 'I have coming to me' as you'd so like to put it." (She'd never admit to him that she was slightly afraid of the dark of course.)

SMACK.

Ino's head turned to the side, feeling the pain on her left cheek where Boss had punched her.

"I'm not afraid to hit sluts."

Even in her pain she managed to remain steadfast, "I'm not a slut. Won't be and never will be. I'm not a whore."

"So, you call the others in your room 'whores' eh?"

Ino, in the back of her mind was slightly shocked. She hadn't known what other works the other girls had to do, though sex was one idea. She had thrown it out long ago but now it seems as though she were right for a long time.

"No, they're not whores since they don't give themselves up voluntarily, you Idiot."

"Ino, stop already!"

Said girl turned to look at her sister quizzically. "What are you talking about Sakura? This guy **is** an idiot, we all know that!"

"Oh? Is that true? Tell me Sakura, do you believe that I am an idiot?"

Ino's heart plummeted to the floor when she saw Sakura, frightened and looking small ('Kind of like when I first met her...') shook her head.

"What about you Busty? Think I'm an idiot?" Sarcasm was dripping off every word. When there was no reply (her back was to him), he forcefully turned her around and asked her again. "Do you think I'm an idiot?" This time, he was not sarcastic but more forceful in his asking.

Ino wanted to cry when she heard Tsunade, hesistantly say, "N-no." When his attention was focused back on Ino, Tsunade turned her head and visibly grimaced.

"Seems like you're the only one Lily. Now, I'm going to say this once, and it will be crystal clear.

You. Will. Go. Back. And. Work.

Am I clear?"

"And if I say no again, then what?" She replied giving him all the attitude she could muster.

"Or else it will be The Hole."

Ino tsk'ed once while rolling her eyes and head once then looked him in dead in the eyes so that he would 'get the message'.

"No."

Tsunade and Sakura were devestated when they heard that one word. Boss drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Well then, good luck." With that, he left the room and even managed to close the door quietly.

Several minutes of silence passed before Sakura couldn't take it any longer. "You're such an idiot! Apologize to him first thing in the morning!"

"Oh what, I'm the idiot? Apologize!? Please! The two of you backed down so quickly! He is an idiot! There's nothing wrong with him suddenly finding out," she said sarcastically at the end. "Honestly, the two of you are so scared by him, it makes me... SICK!"

"That's because you've never been stuck in The Hole before!"

"Oh come on! It's a hole!"

"It's not just a hole, Ino." The two looked at Tsunade who suddenly spoke up, though it was quiet. She seemed unsure, but she continued, "It's not just a hole, it's..." she looked for the word, "It's... pretty much pure isolation."

Ino's face deadpanned. "Pure isolation? Right and that's supposed to scare me because...?"

"Would you stop giving us attitude Ino? We're trying to help!"

"By what? Telling me that this 'hole' thing is really spooky and creepy? Uhm, hello, I've kind of outgrown my kid-self."

"That's not it! When we say pure isolation, it's _absolute_ isolation."

"It's true," stated Tsunade. "Once you're in there, nothing gets in or out except some food."

"That's not all bad."

"It is. I..." It was obvious that this was upsetting Tsunade. "When I went there, the first few weeks I was brought there because of rebelling too, outside the containment cell, it's almost nothing but light. The cell's in the middle of the room but around from the outside, you see insecticides, rat poison, and an air filtration system."

"Right, okay-"

"Let her finish Ino!" ('...' - Ino)

"The air filtration's really the only thing that helps you when you're there. It's attached to the cell drawing out the stale air and pumping in new air."

"You know, this is really interesting, but I-"

"Let me finish Ino."

Ino was really getting bored. How much more was Tsunade going to talk? She didn't talk like this before in their rooms and now it was really starting to get on her nerves. She didn't need this from these two cowards! "Uh, actually no. I'm gonna go to slee-"

"Shut up."

That froze Ino to her seat on Sakura's bed. Did Godaime-sama just tell her to shut up? Well okay, she wasn't Hokage anymore, but it's pretty bad when you have the had-been-Hokage tell you to shut your mouth. So she obeyed.

"Aside from the system," continued Tsunade, "nothing else really matters to you because once you're in the cell, you're alone. It was then that I realized that the walls were sound-proofed so no noise inside could get out and the outside noise couldn't get in."

"So what's with the whole insecticide, rat poison stuff? It's not like it's gonna be a party with them in there."

"No, but as Boss said, it's absolute isolation; humans, insects, rodents included."

"That's not all, there's no light coming in so you're in pitch-black darkness all day and all night. You can't see but eventually, it doesn't matter. Well, you do get light once a while and that's when the guard outside, at least I think it's a guard, puts food in your cell. Only when that tiny slider door is open does any light get in but it's for a brief moment before it closes again," input Sakura.

Ino was getting to the point of dying a slow death by listening to these two. It just didn't matter to her. A hole was a hole! Isolation? She could deal with that. 'It's not that hard to overcome.' she thought.

"Look, thanks you two for the heads up but my answer's still no to him."

"Ino-"

"I'll be fine Sakura." She got up from her spot and headed over to her bed but said over her shoulder, "Thank you Tsunade-sama for your _wonderful_ story. Now if you don't mind, I am going to sleep."

Sakura yelled at her, "Ino, you really don't want to go in there! Just say sorry to him!"

Ino's anger flared. "That's it Sakura! You've been such a baby since I got here. You're like a yes-woman to him and it's bloody annoying! If you're okay with losing your virginity," she snapped her fingers, "like that, fine. Go ahead. It's yours, you screw around with it. Me? I'd like to keep mine thank you very much. I am NOT letting him control that! When I have sex, I'm the one to give the 'okay', not him. We are finished with this discussion, good night!"

"Ino, plea-" started Tsunade.

"GOOD NIGHT!" yelled Ino who, already bundled in bed, had her back facing the other two.

Sakura and Tsunade looked at each other, having not felt so weary in quite a while. They sat on their beds dejectedly, knowing full well that trying to tell Ino anything more or trying to get her to change her mind would amount to nothing. 'Maybe,' they both thought, 'just maybe we can get her to say sorry to Boss tomorrow morning.' They looked at each other and smiled a sad smile before nodding their goodnights. Yes, tomorrow morning they would both get her to change her mind. That lifted their spirits somewhat.

By the time they both woke up the following morning-

-----Camp (3 AM)-----

"-Ino was missing from the room," finished Tsunade.

"Wait, wait. All right, I'll admit, I'm thinking along Yamanaka's line of thinking. How bad could that isolation thing be?" Tails asked.

Sakura was visibly upset and Tails inwardly flinched. Tsunade put her arms around her younger sister while helping her relax a bit more before she answered. "Think of it this way then. You're in a room, by yourself with no one else around. There's nothing to see, nothing to do, it's just black. You have no idea how big the room is and once you start feeling your way around, you start to believe that the room is actually really small. Smaller than you think it could be and you start to go just a little bit crazy.

Day and night makes no difference. You sleep when you sleep, you wake when you wake, but how long each part takes, you have no idea. The insects and rats are kept out so that inside, you're not sure if you're dead or the sole living thing on the planet. You can't talk with anyone, even when the slider's open."

"What? No way. There's someone on the other end handing you food, just say 'hi' and if they say 'hi' back, you know that there are still people alive."

"But that's the thing," started Sakura, "the people don't say 'hi' back. I tried once, I forced myself to stay up until I saw the slider open with a hand pushing it in. I said 'hello' but the hand stiffened, shoved the food in, and then hastily closed the hatch. I hadn't ever been awake for another 'food delivery'. That is if you could call it food. In there, you don't even know what you're eating and if you're not careful, you might even step in it."

"That bad, huh? What about uhm..." he felt a little awkward posing such a question and displaying his back-in-the-day habits, he scratched his head. "You know, if you have to... 'go'?"

Sakura felt a little better, especially when she saw him look a bit uncomfortable and teased, "What do you mean by 'go'?" Tsunade thought that Sakura ought to get an award for looking so honestly confused.

"Uh, when you... your body has bodily functions that require the use of a toilet or something of the sort." He was regretting to have pulled his hood far enough for them to see his face now.

'Sakura-imouto, you are too adorable but I'm going to have to let him off the hook. It's way too early in the morning for this kind of teasing now.' Tsunade did continue to look at her little brother's face that seemed to keep morphing from one uncomfortable look to another just a bit longer before saving him face.

"Ah! I know what you're getting at. Peeing, right? Or even... pooing?" It was oddly comical how she could say those two words while keeping on a straight face. Especially the last word since hardly anyone said that much face-to-face with others.

He stiffly nodded and cursed inside at how both girls were looking at him now with highly amused faces.

Tsunade grew a little bit more serious as she recalled the dark dungeon. "Thing is Tails, we didn't have the luxury of a toilet or even a hole in the ground."

His eyes widened exceptionally. He had been caught before, twice, and was held captive but he was still permitted a toilet (and sunshine through the holes in the walls called 'windows' by the captors). "No, that can't be."

Tsunade bitterly smiled, "Oh, but it was. The worst part though was that no one cleaned up the cell until after the person inside was released back into the world of the whore house."

They gave him a couple minutes to mull over the tidbit in which he was utterly disgusted with. And this is coming from a guy who is used to not taking showers every day, even after a battle (when he feels gross).

"Wow..." it came out as a whisper, "I can't really seem to believe that."

"Neither could Ino," put forth Sakura, "which is why, when she returned to our room, Tsuna-neechan and I worked really hard to make her forget what happened. I was there once. It lasted a week, according to oneechan, but it felt like months. I nearly went crazy in there." She felt ashamed and started tearing again.

Tsunade held her and before Naruto could ask the question, she stated, "I was there for a week. Ino-imouto was there for eight."

Tails eyes shot open wide until his face almost resembled that of an owl's. Two months? In those conditions!? "How-"

Tsunade answered, "We don't know. We just worked our hardest at making her forget and it seems like we did except now, she apparently has these memories in nightmare form. Her fear of the darkness grew exponentially from that experience and that was when her claustrophobia began as well."

'Well that ties everything together from the basement,' thought Tails.

"And that is why we ask you to never bring that subject back up with her. She really needs to just forget all about it."

"What happened when she came back?"

"She was thin, pale, weak. She couldn't even say our names because that took too much energy to do. Ino recovered in about a month's time."

"Only one?" (Surprise completely took over him.)

"She's strong inside and Sakura and I believe that we managed to get her to forget all about it. So right now, she's sure she's been working for the past three years when it was really the past two and some."

A few minutes and then a sudden intrusion of noise: Sakura's snore.

Tails managed a feeble smile before giving his word to Tsunade that he'd never bring up the subject unless she did. The last part made Tsunade raise an eyebrow but she accepted it anyway. She knew how Ino was acute of when people were avoiding a subject so Tsunade let it slide. Arranging Sakura into her sleeping bag and seeing Tails out the tent, Tsunade promptly fell asleep having never felt so worried yet completely at ease.

Outside the tent, Tails swiftly returned to the already-burned-out fire and yawned. He refused to sleep though since he needed to sort and process all of the information he had just learned.

In his mind however, he seemed to repeat, 'Are you all right Ino...?'

-----Ino-----

She heard the two voices and then saw both leave the campfire site together. 'Wonder who they were.' Her eyes remained focused on looking at the glowing fire until it was too small for her to see before she finally turned and crawled over to look at her brothers.

Chouji was lightly snoring and Ino, between Shikamaru and Chouji was kneeling. She smiled and gently brushed away a few stray locks from his face. He snored again. 'Hmm, I remember reading somewhere that when a person snores, it means that they are troubled. (Sigh) Chouji, I hope you're all right.'

Turning her attention to her left at Shikamaru, he was on his back sleeping soundly and at that too, she smiled. Then there was a crack somewhere that caused her to look around to search if anyone was outside but seeing no one and hearing nothing once again (save Chouji's snoring), she looked back down at Shikamaru and slightly gasped.

His eyes were open and he was looking at her.

They were slightly glazed, indicating that he had just woken up ('To the crack sound I suppose.') but they were also focused on her. "Why aren't you asleep?" he asked quietly.

Her body relaxed. "I'm not tired. Besides, I slept a lot on the way here."

"You should still sleep. Tomorrow's going to be busy for you." She shrugged her shoulders and momentarily looked away before he asked another question that reached her core. "Ino"  
She hmm'd in response. "Are you still afraid of the dark?"

Seeing her posture change, even though her face remained the same, he knew then that the answer was yes. She didn't want to admit it though. 'I'm a kunoichi. I shouldn't be afraid of something so... Something a child would be afraid of.' Her face was facing the opposite direction, but when she looked back, she was slightly surprised at what Shikamaru was doing.

He had rolled onto his left side and raised his right arm, inviting her to sleep. This comforted her. Quietly, she said reminiscingly, "Just like the old days huh? With the sleepovers back when we were about five, hehe," She giggled.

_Back when they were in the academy and a few years before that, the parents of the three children would often have get-togethers to keep the friendship ties strong and to see how each were doing. On some nights, they would permit their children to sleep over at whoever's house they were visiting._

_"Shikamaru-kun, Chouji-kun, could I have a word with the two of you?"_

_Both five-year-olds looked at each other before walking over to Inoichi (AKA Ino's dad to them). "Yes sir?" asked Chouji (Shikamaru already had the 'this-is-troublesome face' on)._

_"Tonight will be the first night that my little girl is going to be staying over at your house, Chouji-kun. What I'd like to ask is that the two of you take care of her."_

_Shikamaru raised an eyebrow, "Why? Can't she take care of herself?"_

_Inoichi's eyebrow twitched. 'You can barely care for yourself you five-year-old! Shikaku, what have you been teaching your kid?' Inoichi thought of another way to put in words what he wanted but it seemed rather impossible. Was his request not straightforward enough?_

_"She can take care of herself but I mean, watch over her when night falls."_

_The silence between the trio was rather uncomfortable: one; Inoichi was trying to ask two kids to watch over his precious girl, and two; the other two are still getting to know each other and Ino, and now her father wants them to watch over her like bodyguards. How often do either of these situations happen?_

_Chouji spoke up, ending the silent moment. "We will sir. But," his curiosity was winning him over, "why do we need to watch over her? Does she get nightmares?"_

_"Uhm," a pause, "yes but also because she..." he dropped down to a whisper, "You'd better not ever tell her that I told you this, but she has a phobia of the dark." He was extremely serious and both immediately nodded but Inoichi noticed that when Chouji's eyes widened (surprised at what Ino was scared of), Shikamaru's facial expression remained the same._

_'That's interesting, either Shikamaru-kun's really good at controlling his expressions or he already figured out what was scaring Ino. Either way, he's a genius already at that age.'_

_As the evening progressed, Chouji and Shikamaru kept true to their words and watched over Ino and even managed to make it look like they just wanted to hang out, all three of them together. Surprisingly, they found that they liked each other's company, save Chouji's wolfing down food at inhuman speeds, Shikamaru's constant 'troublesome' line, and Ino's screeching at something she didn't like._

_Eventually the parents said their goodnights and left (not before a very long, drawn out moment of hugging between Ino and her parents and Shikamaru and Chouji received 'The Look' from Inoichi too). Upstairs in Chouji's bedroom, they sat on their rolled-out futons chatting with each other when suddenly all the lights in the district blacked out._

_Immediately Shikamaru and Chouji were worried; the lights were gone and the curtains were drawn. That meant that Ino was in absolute darkness._

_"Ino," called out Chouji, "Ino-chan, are you all right?"_

_The two boys heard a sniffle and then as Chouji tried to locate her, Shikamaru carefully crawled to the window and catching hold of the curtain, drew them back. He turned around to see Chouji hugging Ino and rocking her back and forth. She was curled up into a ball._

_He walked back over to the two and noticed that though she had her head down, he could still see the path of the tears along her cheeks. Not knowing what to do exactly, he followed Chouji's example and steadied one hand on her legs and the other on her back, keeping the rocking motion._

_Chouji was softly whispering reassuring words to her, telling her that it was all right and that now, the moon and star light from outside could be seen. He had learned this technique from his parents when he came home upset after people teased him and called him fat or a pig (they used glutton once but he didn't know what it meant). Once he mentioned the light though, Ino raised her head slowly and when she saw the moon, she gently placed her hands on top of the other two's making them stop rocking her._

_'She seems fine now and she's even smiling!' Chouji smiled at her and then, with her._

_"Are you scared of the dark?" Chouji's smile faltered. Did Shikamaru really just ask that? Of all questions, why that one? They already knew the answer._

_Ino was quiet for a little while, shifting her gaze to look at the roofs of the houses across the street and further away. "Yes," she whispered, ashamed (her eyes closed too)._

_"Fear of the dark, that's okay. Honestly, I'm scared of a few things too, like my mom when she wants me to do my chores and I'm hiding from her. She's pretty scary when she's angry or frustrated."_

_Chouji caught onto the idea. "Yeah, same. Well, I'm not scared of doing my chores but I'm always really careful to make sure that my mama doesn't catch me when I eat some of the food for dinner before it's served."_

_"So," two sniffles, "you guys are also scared of some things?"_

_The two boys nodded and Ino smiled again while rubbing her tears away. The to-be Team X had already begun their group-bonding time. They stayed together that way for a long while before one by one they nodded off to sleep._

_From then on, everytime there was a sleepover, Ino would place herself between her friends so that sleep would come easier and simply to feel safe. Of course, she also remembered to bring her stuffed piglet (her sleeping buddy) each time as well, just in case._

"Yeah, so, are you sleeping or not? Cuz I'd like to," mumbled a drowsy 18-year-old Shikamaru.

She smiled at him and the memory before Ino snuggled in between the two and Shikamaru's arm came to rest over her abdomen. "Night," he said. She touched her head to his chin as a reply and soon he was asleep once again. Chouji to her left had stopped snoring as soon as she nestled herself in the middle and on his face was a smile.

'So maybe I was what 'troubled' him. Sorry Chou, I didn't mean to but sleep well. And you too Shika, sleep well.' Then she entered into a near dreamless sleep.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Tada! Finito! Story is over! (Haha, as if.) Anyway, I'll be trying to get the next chapter up and I'm sorry if the story seems kind of slow... I like developing... ehehehe (smile!)


	16. Status Report

Title: Come Back to Me   
Series: Naruto   
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea. 

A/N: Yay! It's a chapter!  
BigQuise and Uwe Dierks: Teehee, I love mean cliffies (it's fun for the author, HORRIBLE for the reader. I know lol).  
Remusscarface: Ehehe, I can't read Korean (Author's note I said Japanese, but I meant Korean. Least, I think it's Korean... yes?) so could you please translate what you typed to me in the last review? Ehehehhehe (anime sweat) and I'm trying to move ahead to Naru/Ino moments although there's still quite a lot of stuff blocking the two from getting together at the moment.

-----------------------------------------------------------

'Why did I, of all people, volunteer to check up on her? Sure, it was Shikamaru's request, but wouldn't it have been better if it were he or Chouji that went to see her? I'm sure she'd have been much happier than now and I'd be a lot less confused. I can't allow her to get close to me. No one's to know that I'm here except a few although it's too late to convince her to believe that.'

A sigh. 'But everyone else is supposed to think that I'm dead.'

A sad smile formed within the shadows. 'Even Konohamaru believes I'm dead.

A moment passed. 'So maybe that's why I'm trying to not get any closer. I've gotten too close before, become too comfortable with her around. How many things can you pour your concentration into at one time? And if I ever hurt her, I know Shikamaru and Chouji'd murder me in cold blood.'

An intense second of thinking.

'Yep, no doubt about that.' Another sigh. 'Then I learn all about what happened inside the whore house making me feel that much worse at not having rescued them any earlier. The worst thing now is that I have no idea how to act around her. Before it was: get into the brothel, get close and gain her trust (and I think I got too much of it), complete the rescue mission, then distance self away. That should have been simple to do but it obviously hurt her.

'It kind of hurt me too...'

Had the hood not been in the way, Naruto would have most likely started tearing out chunks of hair by this point in time out of frustration.

He had been sitting in front of the fire (since the previous night) moments before but was slightly surprised to find himself standing in front of Kurenai and co.'s tent.

The reason: he was in charge of a frightening duty named Waking Three Girls Up.

Managing to calm himself down, he called out (rather playfully), "Knock Knock."

"Euaaaaaaaaagh..." came a voice from inside.

Naruto could tell that the one speaking had just woken up. Perfect, one out of three, now to get the other two to wake up. "Knock knock again."

"Mmmmmm!!!!" was the muffled cry of another (probably into a pillow). Now just one more.

"Knock Kno-"

"SHUT UP!" That was Tenten. "Who are you, what do you want, we're tired so just give us another five minutes. Thank you and goodnight!"

"Morning ladies, my name is Tails and I was ordered to come by to wake you three. If you don't come with me now, you will not be able to bathe nor eat breakfast and then you'll be ridiculed when you enter your first training session late," he said matter-of-factly.

At the mention of 'Tails', however, Hinata immediately sat up (rousing the other two a bit more out of their slumber since she slept in the middle) but forced herself not to burst through the entrance and start interrogating him.

Especially as to whether or not he was her Uzumaki Naruto.

"A-Anou, are you-"

"The name's Tails. Now all of you hurry up and get out."

Grumbling, Tenten removed her cover as did Kurenai and Hinata felt defeated. She still had hope though. 'Maybe I can find out on the way to the showers...?'

-----Ino-----

Trying to grab onto the fleeting dream that she was having (she was sure it was a good one), Ino reluctantly noticed that she was somewhere warm, cozy, and comfy. Okay, so it wasn't that bad waking up, but she wouldn't open her eyes if she didn't have to. Plus, it had been so long since she had felt so rested.

Being sure that the alarm was about to ring, she reached out feeling for her alarm clock and suddenly stilled. 'Grass? Why do we have grass in our room?' "Sakura! If you're up, go turn off the clock before it rings!" Hearing no reply nor sound, she immediately opened her eyes and almost wished she hadn't.

'Why am I in a tent? Where's Sakura and Tsunade? Where am I, what's going on?!' She looked around and her eyes then landed on a jounin vest to her right. She quickly realized it was Shikamaru's and the previous week's events all passed through her mind in a blink of an eye. She relaxed.

And just as soon jumped when she heard a voice call out to her from outside the tent, "Oi! Ino you lazy bum! Time to get up! We're going to take our showers." It was Sakura.

Not really wanting to get up, but eager to finally wash herself from all the muck on her, Ino removed her covers, stretched, and then headed outside.

"Morning."

"Aw gross! Don't talk to me! Your breath stinks!"

"Oh, _h_a_h_a, it's called morning breath stupid."

Pinching her nose, Sakura replied, "Yeah but it still stinks!" She pointed at a pitcher placed by the campfire, "There's water in there, go drink some to wash down a bit of the stink and then we'll go shower."

Ino complied and both were soon walking together towards where Tsunade and Shikamaru waited (he woke the other two up) while jabbing at each other about something (morning breath, bed hair, who knows really?).

-----River-----

Shivers ran through their bodies.

"THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL A SHOWER!?" cried out Sakura. All logic had left her since she stepped into the frigid waters because really, who expects to find proper showers in the middle of a forest?

Upon hearing no reply (Shikamaru was a little ways away so as to give the girls privacy), she trembled as she rubbed on soap and washed it off. Ino and Tsunade were not faring any better. Their lips were shaking at a terrific speed.

The three heard voices coming from a distance and before long, there stood Tails with the other three girls in tow freaking (and embarassing) those already in the river. Thankfully with the current and the foaming around them, nothing could be seen, but they could only concentrate on the fact that there was a man there. Then Shikamaru came around as well.

Three screams rang out and then a shout. "Dreamer! Get out of here! You too-"

"-Tails!"

Sakura, Tsunade, Tails, and Shikamaru all mentally sighed because Sakura had just saved Naruto from being found out. Ino paused for a moment before understanding that she almost said Uzumaki's real name rather than his code name and put her annoyance at her sister out of mind. Hinata, however, noticed how quickly Sakura had cut in and again her interest and curiosity was piqued.

The males hurriedly left, feeling somewhat embarassed themselves, leaving the girls to finish their business and after came breakfast. But for these six girls, it was breakfast while at an information meeting.

"All right, first things first. The reason why you've been called here is to give you an update on our current situation. We're giving this to you now because it'd just be easier for all of you to listen at one time," started Shikamaru.

"Names are the first things on our list. Memorize them and call those people by their given titles, and if not, punishment will be given out but at the moment, we're only giving names of those in the higher ranks. If you don't know someone's, ask them. Are we clear?" A chorus of 'yeses' and then Chouji continued.

"I am Roller and yes, I have... well, almost gotten over the whole fat thing. We'll be going around telling you our names."

Shikamaru: Dreamer   
Naruto/Hooded Man: Tails   
Neji: Seer   
Kiba: Guard ("Akamaru's "The Copier" since he and I still use Gatsuuga)  
Kotetsu: Faker

"These are all the captains, if you are placed into their teams, you will obey them. As for you six, you have names as well."

Ino: Manipulator   
Sakura: Little Girl   
Kurenai: Guide   
Hinata: Shield   
Tenten: Dragon   
Tsunade: Mama (this really made the girls laugh and it took a few minutes before they calmed down)

"Any objections?" Sakura almost wanted to say something, but decided against it. Who knows, they might have given her the name 'Flower Girl'. As if that would be original at all. ('It would suit Ino better anyway.') Tsunade didn't bother trying to change her name because anything was better than 'Busty'.

Roller looked around and nodded. "All right, there are no objections. Moving onto our current situation, Seer."

"At the moment, the Sound half of Konohagakure is still controlled by Uchiha Sasuke. He has created his inner circle, five in total, and rarely listens to his advisor belonging to his inner circle. He usually acts on seemingly solo missions and his murderous intent against his brother is still highly active.

"With Akatsuki, we know that two have been killed leaving their numbers down to seven. Whether those two have been replaced, we don't know yet."

Faker (Kotetsu) added, "It was my team that reported that upon returning yesterday. The likelihood of them having replaced the dead Akatsuki members by this time is not high, but possible."

"All right, that's all you need to know for now. Go get yourselves ready for your first training session in 30 minutes," finished off Dreamer.

"Wait!" cried out Tenten, "what about our camp? What's our status?"

Dreamer mentally sighed as the girls started asking questions. "Stop," he said. And they did. "What exactly do you want to know?"

"I want to know our current situation in relation to our two enemies," said Sakura as a spokesperson for the girls.

"I want to know what happened to Lee and all the others that we haven't seen yet," added Tenten.

Almost at once the girls (almost) regretted asking their questions. The atmosphere in the room had suddenly shifted from serious to sombre to downright grim. They knew that things weren't going all too well.

Hearing no one speak, Guard (Kiba) said, "Okay, I'll talk first." After a moment (he was thinking about which question to answer, uneasy about answering the second) he continued. "Our two oppositions know of us and believe us to be threats because we've stopped a few of Uchiha's massacres upon different villages and we killed one of the Akatsuki members. There's still a lot of work to be done but between training (the girls felt a little ashamed at that) and saving missions, it's hard to attack either side. That's why it took so long for us to rescue you."

'Oh' resounded in all the females' heads since now it made sense for having them wait in their brothels during those long three months.

The silence in the tent was heavy and it took a lot of courage from Hinata to bring up the last question. "What about the others...?" 'Others' did not have to be defined.

Faker looked up from the ground and slowly began. "In this group, we have lost five members within the last two years. If you want to think number-wise, we've done really well considering that our group is rather small but nonetheless, losses are losses and we will miss them. The first to go was Hayate. His health problems were probably a factor in his death but it was when he was on a recon mission that he was captured and was taken into enemy headquarters. Apparently, one of his teammates was a spy for Uchiha. It was there he was held and died. As for Kakashi and Gai, they're MIA."

A minute of silence passed through and then Seer spoke. "Dragon, you asked about Lee and so here's the news. In a recent mission against Sound, his legs gave out at a critical moment."

She gasped, "No! Why did you send him out then!? You knew about his condition! He wasn't even permitted to become a chuunin! How could you let him go out!?"

"Tenten!" She momentarily stopped speaking. "He wanted to do the mission and his health was fine before he left. He insisted on it and we were low in numbers at that time."

"That's still not a good reason for having him go out to his death!" she screamed.

"We're always going out to our death!" he roared. "Do you think that any of us expect to come back from any mission? We don't! And you shouldn't either!" Realizing that he was riled up, Seer tried to slow down his words. "None of us do, it's something we've accepted by joining this group. Lee's death isn't anything that I want to deal with, but I've accepted it. I'm just glad he's out of this mess now."

Tears streamed down her face but Tenten with furrowed eyebrows nodded and remained quiet. Hinata and Kurenai were beside her hugging her but not saying a word. For all those in the tent, any death hurt them.

Seer breathed in before continuing. "Udon passed away last year because of health issues within camp grounds and Kankurou (this surprised the girls because they thought that those in the Rebel groups were from Konoha although they did know in the back of their minds that it was comprised of ninjas from everywhere) died three months ago while fighting against Sasori of the Sand. Sasori was one of the Akatsuki members that died."

Dreamer was the last to speak. "Manipulator (Ino) and Guide (Kurenai), I'm sorry to say but this news will probably affect you both the most." Both girls had a sick feeling in their stomachs. "Asuma-sensei died last month during a battle against Akatsuki."

Kurenai clutched Tenten closer and she back to Kurenai, but Kurenai kept a face straight. Ino uncharacteristically maintained her expression and then closed her eyes. If it hadn't been her breathing pattern suddenly changing, everyone would have believed that she didn't particularly care about her teacher's death. Tsunade went over and held her shoulders but Ino shrugged her away making Tsunade worry that much more.

"I'm sorry," went on Dreamer, "but that's what you wanted to know."

Ino, without opening her eyes, shook her head. "No, thank you is more like it, we needed to know." The others nodded as well.

Feeling terrible but not wanting to disrupt the uncomfortable silence (as it would feel awkward), Hinata mentally cursed herself when she heard herself speak. "A-anou... I was just wondering... whatever happened t-to Naruto-kun..." She immediately held her hands to her chest and stared at the floor, desparately trying to burn a hole through it to jump into.

Guard smirked before his face fell again. It would be difficult to tell her and then convince her to believe the truth. "Shield... uhm, Naruto is... (scratch back of head) Uhm, he's... he's..." He couldn't say it, he didn't want her spirits to drop any further. Akamaru (having managed to fit his head under the tent near Guard) whined quietly.

With a sigh, Dreamer spoke bluntly, "He's dead." Guard right then and there wished he could have punched Dreamer in the face after seeing Hinata's face turn red from blushing to absolute paleness. (Nobody noticed Ino's eyes shooting open for a moment before closing again.)

"B-but..." she looked up and over at Tails, "he can't be. Tails-san has the same chakra signature."

Dreamer in his mind admired at how she remembered it after so long but knew that the situation would be troublesome if she refused to believe that Naruto was dead. Then suddenly, Tails chuckled before saying, "Yeah, I've heard that comment many times before when I came here. But you have to believe me Shield-san, Naruto is dead."

"Don't lie!" she shouted, something no one foresaw, "He can't be dead! He's my Naruto! He can't be dead!" Within the confines of his hood, Tails' eyebrows shot straight up.

'Yep, troublesome like I believed it'd be,' thought Dreamer. "Shield, please calm down. Screaming's not going to solve anything so please quiet down." Thanks to her upbringing, Hinata quickly reduced her shouts to something like quiet denial. And this time, it was Kurenai and Tenten holding her, trying to console her while trying to wrap their heads around the idea that Tails, who could be Uzumaki, claims himself or the real Uzumaki to be dead.

Tears streamed down her face but within, Hinata resolved that she would not rest until she saw what was under the hood or rather who was hiding in it.

Seeing that things had finally slowed down, Dreamer ordered that the girls take the remaining five minutes to get a drink of water, splash their faces with water, whatever, so long as they would be ready for the training session. Seemingly harsh, especially after everything they just heard, those in the tent were angry at Dreamer (except a few) but left to prepare themselves anyway. He sighed one more time and turned to Tails soon after the others went out (somehow Tails knew that he should stay behind).

"You all right?"

"I should be asking you that. You just got yelled at by Shield which in a way, is really bad since she's never done that before."

"Yeah, but it has to be like that. No one knows I'm alive except you, Seer, Guard, and Silence. Funny how it's supposed to be only you, but Akamaru sniffed me out, Seer saw quite literally through me, and Silence's bugs cheated and told him who I was."

Dreamer hmm'ed, already knowing that three of the six girls knew that Naruto was alive and both sat in companiable silence for the next few minutes. Much had happened within the confines of the tent and both were still trying to process it all (okay, only one, but Dreamer was being nice to let the other think it out). "I just hope she won't make it a big deal and reveal you to everyone else."

Tails nodded but inside, he was sure that Hinata would only spill to Kurenai and Tenten. In a way, he was still slightly shocked at how she claimed him to be hers. 'She really has changed, huh? Wonder what Kiba thinks of that hehehe.'

"One! Two! Three! Four! One! Two! Three! Four!"

From outside the two men could already hear the trainers shouting out at their trainees during their warm-ups. Sitting for just a few more minutes, neither wanting to get up, leave their sitting space, and shoulder on responsibility, they listened to the different screams from all around wondering just how they manage to stay hidden. Eventually both looked at each other (one seeing nothing but a black void) before pushing themselves up and then going out together. It was time to return to the real world.

-----Just before-----

Once the girls were sent out to get ready, Tenten, Kurenai, and Hinata directly returned to their tent while the other three stood near a clearing where the training session was to be held (Silence told them where to go when they got out of the tent). They began light stretches, when they heard a female voice nearby speaking to another Rebel member. Immediately Sakura and Tsunade's ears perked up and they looked over.

Lo and behold, they see none other than Shizune! Crying out joyously, the two females ran over to the third (that paused in her talk with the other upon hearing the cry coming from her right) and tackled her to the ground. Luckily for them, Shizune had just taken off her poison darts because if she hadn't, both would be writhing on the ground instead of rolling around and laughing their heads off. Upon knowing who her 'attackers' were, the three set about chatting (and it cut into their training time).

Ino by then was obviously feeling left out. She hadn't been trained under Tsunade so it wasn't a surprise that she didn't know Shizune. That, and she felt it odd seeing the other two laughing after their meeting. The fact that Asuma-sensei died still didn't fully click in her head, at least the not-seeing-him-ever-again part didn't. The death part did oddly enough.

She scanned the area and her eyes lighted on Moegi and she immediately felt sad. At Moegi's age, to lose a dear friend and to live like a Rebel, Ino couldn't have wished anything worse for her and she wouldn't. "Oi, Mo- eh, what's your name...?"

Moegi was jolted out of her thoughts when she heard Ino but smiled when she saw her. "Hey, I'm known as Swirl. The higher-ups wanted me to be Blush, but then I said Candy, and then somehow we ended up with Swirl," she laughed.

Ino laughed softly with her and introduced herself as Manipulator. It would take a while before she would get used to the name but she knew it fit her though she wasn't sure why.

"So you girls were just briefed huh?"

"Yeah," Manipulator hesitated, "I'm really sor-"

"Ah, don't say it. A lot of people have and there's nothing to be sorry about. He was sick for a long time, kind of like Hayate-sensei. I miss him but now that he's gone, Kid (Konohamaru) and I have gotten closer to each other although I am envious of Udon. He doesn't have to stay here dealing with this war thing anymore. He's pretty lucky really."

Manipulator nodded and thought, 'It's true, if people told me that they were sorry that Asuma-sensei died, it wouldn't really do anything. It's after the fact although I do wish to know where his grave is, if he has one of course...'

"But are you okay though?" asked Swirl.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's a bit hard to know that Asuma-sensei's dead but I guess he's lucky too. It would have been nice to see him one last time though."

Both girls stood together for a moment of silence and then looked up at each other and smiled cheerily. 'It's all the best for them!'

"Oh, Swirl," the girl hmm'ed, "could you tell me a bit more about Akatsuki and of Uchiha-ahou?"

"No way! You still call him that? Ha! We, as a Camp, switched it from Uchiha-ahou to just Baka. It'll be way too hard for spies to figure out exactly who we're talking about since there are a lot of idiots around. Mind you though that his official name is "Fortune Teller". As for Akatsuki, we have names for them too. There's a shark or fish-faced looking guy called Hoshigaki Kisame. He's known as "Spikes" because of his chakra-eating sword. Sharky or anything to do with fish would have been too obvious and revealing.

Then there's Uchiha Itahi. He's known as "The Predictor" because a source told us that when the Sharingan is activated, the eyes can somehow foretell exactly what their opponent will do in the next second allowing them to move out of the way and plan where to place their next few hits. That also explains why Baka's "Fortune Teller" since that and predictor are synonymous." Then as an after thought, Swirl added, "Oh, from what I understand, the older Uchiha's still stronger than the other. He's also got some weird eye trick thing that takes a lot of energy but it's usually fatal on the victim. So key thing, never look directly into his eyes."

Those are really the only two I know about, but there are five more, at least so far.  
Deidara of the Hidden Rock: he's into explosives which he calls art and there's something about him liking birds. We call him "Hungry" because, now this is going to be weird, but it's said that he has a mouth on one of his hands."

Manipulator's eyebrows lifted. A mouth on a hand? What?

"Yeah, I know, it sounds weird. I haven't encountered him yet but supposedly he can control that mouth and it can actually bite. Anyway, another one would be Zetsu of Hidden Grass. "Planty" was too obvious a name." Upon seeing Manipulator's eyebrows raise again, Swirl continued. "Yeah, he looks like a plant so instead we called him "Double". From what I understand, he has a split personality or something like that, so in a way, I think the name's going to be easy to figure out who we're talking about still but I can't really think of any other name for him." She thought for a moment, "Well, maybe "Trap" might work... but I don't know. I'll talk with Dreamer later."

"Anyway, "Emotional" is the name for a guy called Kakuzu. It's been reported that he holds five hearts but so far, two have been destroyed. However, he can always, I guess you could say restock, on hearts so by now he probably has done that. Also, he's into money so I'm thinking that that would be a good way to lure him out but all of these guys are smart so it won't be that easy getting him out into the open."

"You say that he can restock on hearts?"

"Uhm," she scratched the back of her head, "this gets a bit gruesome. He steals the hearts of his victims and of course, they have to be alive for the heart to still be working. You can picture the details but I'd rather not."

Manipulator knew that she wasn't going to feel well and desparately tried to push the bloody pictures out of her head. She asked Swirl to continue.

"Well, there's not too many others now. There's "Unknown" which is their Leader but it sucks not knowing what their name is. As for their gender, no one's really all too sure although many of us are leaning towards Leader being a guy. And lastly there's "Loner", the last member. He or she's not seen much either so we don't have a lot of data on this person like Leader. He or she's so named because the Akatsuki members usually work in teams but this one doesn't."

"Who were the two that died?"

"Well okay, "Snakey" or Orochimaru, used to be a part of Akatsuki too so we counted him in but as you know, Baka killed him. Then there was "Puppeteer". It's not too original a name since that was exactly what he was. His real name was Sasori of the Hidden Sand."

Manipulator thought hard for a moment and then asked, "Wasn't Kankurou a puppeteer too?"

It was easy to tell that Swirl was upset after bringing Kankurou up. She nodded and said without looking up from the ground, "He was."

It took a few moments and then Manipulator smacked herself on the forehead (quite hard). "I'm so sorry Swirl! I didn't know that you liked him."

Swirl blushed and then slowly looked up. "Well, I did," she admitted. "But he's gone now. I just hope he and Udon are having fun together."

A whistle shrilled through their conversation cutting both from an extremely awkward moment. Manipulator was a bit confused but followed Swirl as all the ninjas in the first session took their places. At the front stood Shizune (later known as Pacifist) and the entire morning was dedicated to training.

"One! Two! Three! Four! One! Two! Three! Four!" yelled out Pacifist.

---- Two Months Later ----

She didn't want to be a groaner but when the morning call sounded, she really didn't want to get up. Last night had been hard; a team returned with one serious injury (one guy had his leg chopped at the knee) and minor ones (like bruises and semi-deep cuts). The med-nins and med-trainees were called out to help (with the trainees watching). She was one of the med-nins but was the unlucky one to have to stay by the injured's side in case he woke up and needed anything. With the muted cries of the others in the hospital tent, the poor girl had a sleepless night.

She let out a big yawn not caring if another saw her and groggily got to her feet. She exited the tent, dragging her feet towards the river in hopes of getting herself to wake up.

The frigid waters did their magic and she felt far more refreshed. Then she realized that she forgot to bring a cover with her to wipe her face but someone handed one to her and she took it without acknowledging who the person was.

"Ahem."

She stopped rubbing her face.

"I really don't know if it's a good thing to send you on the next mission Little Girl. You just took that shirt without even checking who was giving it to you. Not the best thing for you to do once you're out with a team."

Little Girl (Sakura) stood up and turned to look at Dreamer standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

She hurriedly apologized, "Ah! I'm sorry! It's just I was really tired from last night-"

"No excuses, thanks. Anyway, I know that you usually wouldn't do that but always stay alert."

She nodded. "So, will you still send me out?" Little Girl really wanted to go out. She hadn't been on any mission because she was still training and serving as a teacher to the med-trainees.

She hated how he was taking his time to formulate a sentence that would either give her hope or leave her in the dumps for the rest of the day. "Well?"

He smirked to himself upon seeing how she was getting restless (he was feeling strangely mean this morning) and finally answered her, "I guess. It's not like we have any one else that can go anyway."

'Meanie!' thought Sakura in a rather childish manner. Either way, after telling her where she was to meet her other teammates, Dreamer left and Little Girl soon followed. Even though she was annoyed, she was excited too because this was her first mission! It felt like the time when Team VII finally got to go on their first B-Class Mission.

---- Shikamaru ----

Truth be told, Shikamaru was feeling slightly angry at Ino. That morning when the three woke up, Chouji went out first leaving the two behind. Ino was still under the covers, her back to Dreamer.

"Come on, wake up Manipulator."

Hearing no reply, Dreamer started to shake her but stopped short when she called out, "Just leave me alone."

He sighed. "No, you have to get up. You're going on a mission today."

"Again Dreamer," this time sounding a little bit angrier, "just leave me alone at the moment. I don't want to get up."

He was ticked with her now that she was challenging his authority (or seemed to be doing so). "And I say that you have to."

"You're not my father or my teacher, so don't tell me what to do!" she yelled, still not looking at him.

His face was hard and set, "Well I wouldn't want to be either of them because then I'd be dead."

He hastily left the confines of the tent not ever looking at Manipulator. He ran the words he'd just said over in his head and although he knew that they were harsh and he regretted saying them a bit, it wasn't enough to make him feel guilty.

---- Meeting Tent ----

Manipulator and Dreamer remained eerily quiet (not that quiet was strange, but the tension reaching across the room to where they sat was stretched out thinly and was cutting as well). Presently in the room other than those two were Seer, Tails, and Little Girl.

Before the other three choked or suffocated under the tension in the air, Dreamer began telling them about their mission.

"The four of you will be working together on an intelligence mission in the Wave Country. The men have already been informed of their part, as for you two females, you will be," he really didn't want to say it.

"We'll be what?" asked Little Girl.

He pushed all emotions to the back of his mind and stated, "You will be acting as their prostitutes."

"What!?" cried out Little Girl. "I am not doing something as degrading as that!"

"Would we be able to go if these two refuse to do the mission?" asked Tails.

"No," replied Dreamer. "I already explained before, the only way to reach the man is inside his local brothel."

"But I don't want to do that! I thought I was going to put all that stuff behind me!"

"You won't be having sex with them Little Girl. It's just a way to get you into the brothel."

"How!? The two of us have to be working there, not us going into the brothel with our 'clients'!"

"Which is why I'm leaving this mission to you four. You're all smart, can work together from what I've seen, so you'll all figure this out when you're there."

"So both have to accept the mission?" asked Seer.

"Yes," answered Dreamer.

"Little Girl, just suck it up and let's go."

The other four stopped in their tracks and turned to look at Manipulator who once again had her eyes closed.

"But, Manipulator..."

Manipulator opened her eyes to stare at Sakura and beneath the look of determination was a thin layer of anger. 'Probably still there from this morning,' thought Dreamer.

"Just do it," said Manipulator.

Sakura was worried at how her sister was acting. Of all people to agree to go on such a mission, it would be her? Something was obviously not right but a the moment, she would let it rest.

"So do you accept the mission?" asked Dreamer.

Everyone gave their consent and within half an hour, they were all packed and ready to go.

-------------------------------------------------

A/N: Okay, hopefully I won't have to put up anymore of the Author's Notices stuff (cuz I get annoyed with those too when others do it. I just want the story! hehe). So to avoid that, I will say now that I am really busy so I'm sorry, I really doubt that I'll be able to give you guys updates quickly. And yeah, happy March break for those who have it :)  
As for the deaths, yeah, I felt a bit bad, but I didn't want this story to be perfectly happy. There's got to be some casualty on all sides. Teehee, and the Moegi/Kankurou thing was really random. Who knows, it could work out (lol!).


	17. Learning Three Things

Title: Come Back to Me  
Series: Naruto  
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea.

A/N: Ehehehe, how many of you currently hate me for updating so late (I am so sorry!). Yeah, as you might guess, I have been busy with school but then after it ended, I got hooked onto Prince of Tennis and Final Fantasy IX. So... I've neglected the story. Sorry... I'm also trying to iron things out with this fic so that's taking me time too. Would it bug anyone if I used Kishimoto's ways of killing off his characters? That is if I can incorporate it into the fic and make it work properly? I don't plan on just plugging in what he did and taking the his brilliant maneuverings/plannings if it's for the sake of finishing off characters. I'll ask at the end of the fic again just in case anyone missed this ehehehe.

Desert Mortician: Hey, not all guys are bad (I'm sure you're not) but I'm just stereotyping some of them. I have guy friends and they're great D I do admire that you admit that your gender can be royal jerks at times though (same goes for girls really ehehehe (sweat)).

St. Alicon: Ehehe, I'm just going to be lazy for this last chapter. I'll take your advice but I just don't want to change what I've done for this one at the moment (yes, I'm sorry, but I do take the lazy way out ehehhe...). Thanks though, but you only mentioned not to mark flash backs. I'm guessing that you don't want me to mark it for other events too though, am I right?

TheTeacher: To answer your question about the cards, Ino already knew about Naruto having seen his face. As for Tsunade and Sakura, Naruto knew that he was going to have to take a side trip before making it to Camp (to 'repay' Koron). So both girls are bound to know who he is since they've been around him for a long time. Plus, he probably would have thought Ino'd had blabbed to them by then about him being alive, etc. I hope that clears up any confusion ehehehe .

Jordan: Well, I was planning on just leaving names like you'll see below. If that's satisfactory, then I hope you won't mind if I leave it like so. One of the reasons I use either their real names or their code names is because of the situation they're in. If they're in 'professional mode', then they'll stick to their code names. Real names are used sparingly since now they tend to be in professional mode.

Sasuke: Fortune Teller (Baka)

Hinata: Shield ------------------- Chouji: Roller ------------------- Deidara: Hungry  
Ino: Manipulator ---------------- Kiba: Guard --------------------- Itachi: Predictor  
Kurenai: Guide ------------------ Konohamaru: Kid --------------- Kakuzu: Emotional  
Moegi: Swirl -------------------- Kotetsu: Faker ------------------ Kisame: Spikes  
Sakura: Little Girl --------------- Naruto: Tails --------------------- Leader: Unknown  
Shizune: Pacifist ----------------- Neji: Seer ------------------------ Unnamed Member: Loner  
Tenten: Dragon ----------------- Shikamaru: Dreamer -------------- Zetsu: Double  
Tsunade: Mama ---------------- Shino: Silence

--------------------------------------------------------

Strange.

After having seen the two spit and squabble and shout in each other's faces for more than half his life, Naruto (Hataru) thought it highly odd to see the two girls walking arm-in-arm as if it was something they'd done all their lives. That, and the fact that both were brunettes, wearing fish net stockings, along with short shorts (or mini-skirt on Yamanaka), and a tank top to finish the outfit off.

Highly strange indeed.

Walking next to him was Ari (Neji), a twenty-year-old with a long, brown ponytail wearing a loose t-shirt and cargo pants. He himself had short, gelled, black hair along with standard jeans and a white t-shirt.

All of this was pretty weird.

It had taken them about thirty minutes to get their henge forms exactly the way they wanted (and it was hilarious seeing both girls' first henges since they came out looking, shall we say, plump?). All four were walking through a city in the night, the boys a little ways away. Their target, The Flower Boutique, was just up ahead.

When they were close enough, the girls unhooked their arms and hastily made their way to the rear of the brothel without ever once signalling to their teammates. However, the boys kept walking at a leisure pace towards the entrance. Hopefully the meeting would last at most until morning and then all four would be able to leave.

---- Girls ----

They rounded to the back of the whore house and climbed over the chain fence to get into its backyard. There was no one to be seen but as soon as the two landed, the back door flung wide open to reveal a disshelved-looking man chewing on a piece of straw. It was obvious that he had a few drinks earlier but was sober enough not to slur all his words into one incomprehensible sentence.

"Hey you two! Your break was over five minutes ago! Get back in here!"

'Score.' Getting in was a lot easier than they thought it would be.

They followed the man (prepared to hold him up should he stumble) into a room where chairs stood in ascending floors. The set up was similar to the classrooms back in the Academy but it had no tables. There were other girls sitting on the chairs in numerical order and Ino was given a sign with the number 27 and Sakura received a 146.

The two girls quickly looked at each other and nodded before taking their places. As soon as they were seated, the man looked across to his left and a female attendant opened the door. In came a forty-five-year-old who quickly scanned the 'flowers up for sale'.

Moaning erupted all inside the room; the girls were spreading their legs open and throwing their heads back, all in hopes of being hired for the night.

The old man was having a hard time picking. His eyes landed on number 27 but she was practically a stiff board having not moved since his entrance. Finding this interesting, he was about to choose her when a loud, sensual moan from 150 caught his attention and chose that one right away.

Ino sighed. She did regret a bit taking on this mission as she had told Little Girl earlier the other day, but she really had to get away from Dreamer. Her head rolled back slightly with her eyes staring blankly at the wooden ceiling. She had already forgiven him, but of course, she'd like to hear his apology first thing when she returns to camp.

Having been distracted, she missed the four other customers that came and left (with 18, 75, 88, and 138). Then a pair entered, one older, one younger.

The increase in desperate moaning forced Ino to pay attention once more to her surroundings and she found at the front, a fat middle-aged man standing with a handsome younger one, both donning suits and looking quite professional. The younger one looked shy as well, as if this was his first time in the brothel. For some reason though, the fatter one looked vaguely familiar to Ino and then it clicked.

This was the man "Ari" and "Hataru" were to have their meeting with.

Ino shot a look at Little Girl and almost gasped seeing how she was going along with the others; spreading her legs and slowly lifting up her shirt before gently putting it back down.

Little Girl momentarily paused to look at Manipulator and was somewhat confused as to why she wasn't doing anything. She did know that this was the man they were after, right?

Manipulator caught the message and redirected her attention back to the pair in front. She was still slightly disturbed but knew that Little Girl was just doing her job. She shuddered and once again regretted taking on the mission.

The young man at the front too was disturbed after having seen his father's face with his greedy, lusty eyes staring at all the women in front of them. This was his father's 'birthday gift' to him; a first time 'experiencing' women at his father's favourite brothel.

'88's already been taken so which one will he choose tonight?' he thought. But really, he didn't care. Rather, he just wanted to leave and go back to his bed to get some sleep. The idea of buying girls didn't intrigue him much since he'd rather get to know the individual before going as far as having sex with her. He was more of the romantic type.

"Ah, young master," spoke the lady attendant who opened the door, "have you decided which flower you'd like to water tonight?"

"U-uh, not yet." 'Real eloquent there Kotsuro.' He could hear his father laughing loudly beside him and wished he could just stick a sock in it (preferably his own sweaty one). Better yet, he should just wrap it around his father's throat. At the moment, either seemed like a perfectly good choice.

"I don't know which one I want, my daily 88 is gone already."

"Mu-san," said the man who walked the girls in, "we know that 88 is out at the moment but surely there must be another that can satisfy your needs tonight." He looked around and his eyes landed on 27. "Here Master," he said while walking towards the girl, "she's a rather new girl in our lot."

'Oh crap,' thought Ino. 'This is really going to be weird. I hate being put on the spot but if it helps to get chosen by this guy...' She hurriedly looked at Little Girl and the man caught the slight exchange between the two.

"See how she twirls her hair? This shows that she's rather inexperienced. She'll be needing a good teacher for the night. And do you see 146? She's been acting as her professor so you might want to take a run at the two to see if they'll pass your," an eyebrow raised mischievously, 'exams'."

Kotsuro looked at number 27 and was quite surprised to see that she wasn't acting. Or maybe she was just in shock at being pointed out but she definitely seemed different from the other girls around her. Then suddenly his father roared out, "I'll take them both!"

The man jumped on the spot, glad to finally get the pair out so he could allow more customers in. The two girls tentatively followed the males out, crossing their fingers that the meeting would happen soon so they could leave faster, and the group followed a lady guide into another room.

There were two beds.

'Oh sick, if my father's going to have sex in front of me...' Kotsuro felt sick in the head and in the stomach.

'Crap, so the meeting's not now!?' thought the two girls.

'It'd be nice to get to know 27 though,' thought Kotsuro after managing to settle his stomach. He sat on one of the beds trying to get over the idea that thousands of others had had sex on the same bed before and was about to call her over when instead his father plopped himself down on the opposite bed and ordered the girls over to him. 'What? Aren't they supposed to be for me?' He didn't particularly care, but he really did not need to see 'The Original Family Jewels' in the flesh any time soon.

Sakura was the first to go over, following her appointed position of 'professor' but was pushed away by one of his beefy arms. "Not you, the younger one."

Ino stared at him for a moment and was desperate. She was hoping that the other-

"Father, I'd rather have her for the night."

All three turned to stare at the eighteen-year-old and his father's face pulled itself into a sneer. "It may be your birthday but I still call which one I want first."

"You said that this was your gift to me."

"So take the uglier one." (Inner-Sakura was shouting and screaming out obscenities.)

"I'd really prefer 27. I don't ask for much so please let me have this one thing."

'Thing? I hate it when we become nothing but objects. It's just like back then.' - Ino

Without saying a word, Mu reached out and roughly pulled 27 to him, forcing her into a kiss. She struggled but was soon pinned under him. She wanted to lash out, strike him in the face, drown him with a water jutsu but knew that she couldn't. Damn the mission! A few minutes more of his rough-handling and tears soon pricked at the edge of her eyes; some out of pain and the rest out of shame.

Suddenly they all heard a knock at the door. They froze on the spot but after the second knock, a quiet, feminine voice asked, "Mu-san? May I come in?"

He had just finished tearing off his top (Ino felt sick since he resembled Takanura from what seemed like ages ago) and was really ticked off. 'How dare they disturb me at this hour!'

The voice repeated after receiving no reply, "M-may I come in?"

Frustrated, he yelled out for her to come in. His mood was ruined anyway. He felt there was no point continuing since he had barely started and was just a little bit curious as to what was so important for someone to disturb him.

The girl fearfully stepped into the room, but with a strong voice told Mu-san that there were two men requesting an audience with him. Her eyes pointedly stared at the floor while she wringed her hands behind her back.

He grunted and pushed 27 off him, got off the bed, fixed his shirt (to the best he could) and ordered the three to follow him as he fell into step behind the attendant. Kotsuro took his time to walk out the room but noticed how both girls rushed around the room taking boxes out of... the walls?

They saw him looking at them and whispered out, "Birth pills." His eyes widened in acknowledgement (and astonishment) before he nodded his head, conveying the message that he'd keep to himself what he'd just seen.

"HURRY UP ALREADY," hollered Mu. Ino scrunched her face before hiding the packets in her clothes and rushing out to stand close to him. Sakura and Kotsuro followed suit.

The attendant lead them to a room down a few halls and turned right into a pale-yellow room. In the middle was a table running the width of the area and on the opposite side of the room stood Hataru and Ari.

"Who are you two and what do you want?" demanded Mu after seating himself down.

"I am Hataru and this is Ari. We're here to ask you a few questions," replied Hataru once he and Ari were seated on the adjacent side of the table.

"And you think I'll answer because...?" It was obvious Mu was getting annoyed already.

Silently, Ari placed a folder onto the table, opened it and pulled a sheet out. Mu looked it over and reluctantly nodded. "All right, what do you want to know."

'Wonder what that was...' thought the silent three sitting against a side wall.

"Have you seen this girl recently?" asked Hataru holding an image up.

'Ah, so it's a girl we're searching for,' thought Ino and Sakura because from their vantage point, they could not see the face. (A/N: Remember, Shikamaru's way of missions is for each member to only know what they need to know. The girls just needed to get into the brothel so they never knew what the boys' side of the mission was. The idea is that if a member is caught, they can only tell so much to their captor -if they do cave in under torture or whatever- and keep the others safer or buy them a bit more time.)

Mu took his sweet time analyzing the picture. The corners of his mouth would lift and drop and eventually Hataru slammed his fist on the table.

"Have you or have you not? Just answer the damn question!"

Mu disinterestedly looked up and after another agonizingly antagonizing minute, he answered. "Yes."

To see Hataru wanting to tear his hair out would be considered normal but to see Ari with his eyes closed and fists clenched was another thing. Ari was trained to be almost perpetually calm so seeing him agitated by this fat man was a bit unsettling.

"All right, where did you last see her. Name the country, town, and even building, if you remember."

Five silent minutes passed save Mu's chin scratching and the couple of hmms and ahems. He then nodded as if finishing a conversation with himself before looking at the two across from him. "As you know, we are currently in the Lightning Country, but I was in the Fire Country not too long ago. I was in a border town, between the Fire Country and Grass Country when I saw the one you're looking for. Other than that, I can't say much else. She looked like she was just passing by so she's probably long gone from there. Actually... she was pretty fat and looked a bit out of place with her black cloak on. But that's all I can say now. Satisfied?" He finished, curling his lower lip.

"Nothing else?" asked Hataru.

"Nothing." Then, "Oh wait," Mu paused for dramatic effect then shook his head. "Never mind, was thinking about something else." He smirked at the small twitch developing on Hataru's right hand.

After a period of stuffy silence, the two boys nodded to one another before standing up. This time it was Ari that spoke.

"We'd like to make a deal with you." Mu's eyebrows shifted. The girls were just wondering how the boys would get them out of the brothel since they got the information they needed. "We want to trade girls with you."

'Oh, that's how,' the girls thought. 'They barely got any information out of this guy. It seemed so... useless to come here.'

"No." The girls' faces drained of colour. "I like my two picks tonight, so I'm keeping them. You still want a go at them, don't you Kotsuro?" said Mu, turning to look-

-at his sleeping son.

The other two men were silently laughing while the girls kept their eyes on Kotsuro rather than his father. Ari continued speaking after quickly calming down, "We have your favourite number 88 along with her new companion 18. We'll switch our two for your two."

A thought crossed the girls' minds, 'Starting to feel like an object again...'

Mu just glared at the cross-armed boys while mentally cursing his son for this embarassment. Knowing full well how these two wanted his flowers, even though they were willing to trade 88 for them (who in their right mind would!?), he replied once again, "No."

Hataru sighed showing how he was slowly losing his composure. He called out behind him, "Come on in," and sure enough, 88 and 18 came in. Rather than standing beside their customers, they sat on the floor next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh. As earlier instructed (without shame), they played with each other's hair and lightly kissed. Things became a little more heated with the slight moans that each elicited from the other but Ari and Hataru remained steadfast in their persuasion to switch their two for Mu's.

"So what do you say Mu? Switch?"

Mu looked on at the two girls, barely registering the fact that he was in a room occupied with others and not just with 88 and 18. Upon hearing Hataru's question, he was jolted from his trance, and with difficulty, said "No" again. He forced himself to look over at 27 and 146 (while noting that Kotsuro had woken up) and though they were tempting, the increased moaning and groaning happening in from of him was hard to ignore. He dared to look at 88 and 18 again.

They were fingering each other.

"DAMN! Fine! Switch! Now!" he cried out.

Ino and Sakura quickly leapt to their feet, pulling Kotsuro up at the same time. They hugged him goodbye before nimbly jumping over the table to meet with their 'new owners' for the night.

'Whoa, I guess when you switch people for the night, the girls have to switch gears as well. And fast,' thought Kotsuro, amazed at how the girls left his side and were already out the door with the other two men. His eyes trained on 27 until the door to the room closed. He seemed oblivious to what was currently happening around him (quite thankfully).

------In the hall------

"All right," whispered Tails, "Seer and I have checked the place out a bit already and we assumed correctly; there are security cameras. Three are pointing at us right now. What we need to do, however, is get the two of you to henge into some inconspicuous objects to bring outside since we can't really just waltz the two of you out."

The girls nodded while acting ditzy for the cameras, clinging onto their two male customers as awkward as it was. They allowed themselves to be dragged about by the two men and it took a good ten minutes for them to find a place where the cameras were focused in another direction. Thirty seconds after (by chance the area was next to a _communal_ washroom), the two men entered the restroom; one with a new watch, the other with glasses.

It was... interesting.

It was like seeing a young man's fantasy of a porno movie which consisted only of orgies being fulfilled. You had your naked women, naked men, and they were piled over each other to the point that you had to ask whether they knew who or even what gender they were kissing/touching.

Okay so it's more like extremely disturbing to the exponent 'n'.

Tails and Seer left the room within seconds trying to rid themselves of the moving images. Little Girl and Manipulator were fine though. Being an 'object' was quite comforting for once as they did not have eyes. Thankfully, they all made it out of the brothel in five minutes and were in the middle of the nearby forest in fifteen.

The girls released their henges, checking to see that they had the stolen birth control pills before setting up camp. They wanted to give the guys a bit of a break, especially after seeing Seer run full speed towards the river a little ways away (in attempts to freeze his eyes so that they'd be numb and not see anything for the next short while). Tails, though, ran faster than Seer to do the exact same thing.

The boys came back with fish and set them on the fire for dinner; all four relaxing after a trying mission. Sure it wasn't as hard as those they'd experienced before as genins, but having been out of practice, the females were rather tired. Not much was said, there was nothing to say, so eventually, three drifted to sleep while the last remained on watch in alternating turns. The following day, they continued on their way to Camp.

----Camp----

Upon their return in the evening, Seer left to report to Dreamer as the two girls went to see Mama. As for Tails, he seemed to have disappeared to Shield's disappointment. Dinner was soon finished and the guards were set up for the night. The sleeping arrangements were the same except Manipulator slotted herself into Mama's and Little Girl's tent.

Lying in bed, Ino listened to the comforting snores coming from her sisters. She let her mind drift and then thought, 'I never had the chance to talk to Dreamer...'

Morning came far too early for Ino when she was forcefully pulled out of bed by none other than Dreamer. The other two girls were nowhere to be seen.

"Get up, get out, and hurry," were his curt words before he rushed out of the tent.

Manipulator was in a daze, sorting out her thoughts and trying to get over the dizzy spell she was experiencing. Not wanting to start another argument, however, she hurriedly got her things together, changed, and left the tent noticing that both Little Girl and Mama's sleeping bags were not inside.

She rushed to the river, finishing her morning routines as if she were in a race. She noted how quiet it was, even with the river's movements. Upon return to Camp, she gasped lightly in surprise at seeing... nothing. The tents had disappeared along with any trace of the cooking fire. All that had been was now gone.

Ino began looking up and down, combing through the original Camp area (while double-checking that she was in the right spot) but found nothing. Not a human, not a tent, not even a scrap of leftover gauze.

'Where has everyone gone? Did I miss a meeting?' Hypothetical situations began running around in her confused mind. 'Wait, is all of this some kind of practical joke? But why would they do something like that to me at a time like this?' After circling the premises, she stopped having found nothing. 'Am I really... alone?'

Her eyes widened in realization and she tried, unsuccessfully, to calm herself. Her breathing became shallower and she sank to her knees. Then suddenly, she was yanked from behind into nearby bushes and a hand covered her mouth, preventing her from screaming. She struggled but the person had wrapped his other arm and legs around her, limiting all of her movements. She heard the person shush her and not detecting any harmful intent, she relaxed and just sat.

"Idiot, I told you to hurry up. Who told you to go wash up anyway?" whispered the man into her ear.

'Shikamaru?' Manipulator turned to see Dreamer looking at her with an annoyed expression. She averted her eyes before whispering in reply, "No one did, it was just habit. What happened to everyone anyway?"

He fiddled with one of his back pockets, bringing out a transparent something. "If you were here earlier, you would have left with the others at the same time. You're lucky I got stuck behind as my timer seems to be on the fritz." In response to her raised eyebrow, he continued, "This transparent piece has a chakra recognition system. I've left my chakra signature elsewhere and once this piece is activated at the right time with my chakra, it'll send me over there along with whatever it's touching. The others left this morning using this technique but you weren't informed because you slept early and missed last night's debriefing. That's the reason for you still being here and Mama and Little Girl having left before you."

Manipulator slowly nodded her head, still trying to understand how the object worked. "So, when will it be time for you to go?"

"Who knows. I was supposed to be gone with the others but I keep putting chakra in and still haven't left."

"And if you hadn't found me or pulled me here, I would have been the only one left on site." Dreamer just nodded, too lazy to say anything more. However, this worried Manipulator. "If I had been left behind, would anyone have come to find me?" Dreamer took a moment, and then just shrugged. "You would have left me here?" This time, Dreamer didn't answer.

Manipulator was about to rant when he pulled her to his chest and covered her mouth. She knew better than to make any noise because she heard footsteps approaching and became apprehensive when she heard Dreamer curse quietly beneath his breath.

"Suppress your chakra." Manipulator looked back at him with displeasure etched across her face but when he felt that she hadn't done so, he said with complete authority in his voice, "That's an order."

She obeyed knowing it to be foolish to not follow your leader's instruction especially when one could sense danger approaching. But she still did so rather reluctantly. Once finished, she brought his hand down and edged closer to the front of the bush, peering through the spaces between the leaves. Dreamer too came closer.

To their left stepped out a man in a slightly oversized black cloak with a red cloud pattern on it. He wore a straw hat, covering his face. Following closely were two others and Manipulator's eyes widened upon realization of who the second man was.

Uchiha Itachi.

The third, blue, shark-looking man was the first to comment. "What is this? They're gone again. Honestly, can't you shut your mouth at least once so that we can just kill them?"

"Oi, Kisame, it's not that easy. I have to maintain my level of trust with them as well," replied the hidden man. 'A spy? His voice sounds familiar but... W-what?' thought Ino in confusion.

"Yeah, but this is what, the second time that they've gotten away?"

"What are you complaining about? You guys got Asuma and Kankurou last time remember?" Ino's eyes widened in surprise.

"You think that's good enough Scavenger?"

"Oh wait, yeah, you're not happy since it was Sasori that got more kills than you, huh, Goldfish?"

"I told you to quit with that name runt."

"Same goes to you with my name calling. Besides, you're really bad at making them up."

"It's not like yours are any better brat."

"Shut up, both of you. I'm not here to babysit."

"Yeah, well he started Itachi."

"Freaking, you're annoying you know that?"

"Shut up!" Silence reigned for a few moments before Itachi spoke again, "Where did they go this time?"

"Shikamaru didn't tell me so to be truthful, I have no idea."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm actually not for once."

In one fluid movement, the annoyed Kisame lifted his Samehada, knocking off the other's hat but aimed it back at the man's throat. "Tell us the truth-

Dreamer had anticipated Manipulator's surprise and all she could do was stiffen in his arms. 'How could he... be one of them?'

-Uzumaki."

-------------------------------------------------

A/N: Neeheeheehee (evil grin), how was that for a chapter? Well... okay yeah, I make up characters in my fics too but I hope it sits well within the story. If not, tell me so I can try to change my ideas around. Also, check out my newest add involving Uchiha Itachi's perspective of the clan murder (though yes, rehashed SO many times, but I'm interested to see if anyone else thinks my thinking is odd or whether my logic makes sense. Ehehehehe (smile!)  
And as I said above, I'll ask this again; would it bug anyone if I used Kishimoto's ways of killing off his characters? That is if I can incorporate it into the fic and make it work properly? I don't plan on just plugging in what he did and taking the his brilliant maneuverings/plannings if it's for the sake of finishing off characters. That's one of my concerns at the moment. As for when the next chapter'll be posted... I don't want to promise a date/deadline 'cause I'm not sure if I'd make it ehehehe. Sorry. (sweat) But thanks for still reviewing and reading :)


	18. Physical Pain

Title: Come Back to Me  
Series: Naruto  
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea. 

A/N: Wha... it's a chapter... but not really... (cries)  
I'm so sorry! I'm really slow with writing nowadays, been getting super distracted with other mangas and schoolwork. But this update is really only to fix up the last chapter so far. Hopefully I'll get more in at some point in time. (sigh)

Sasuke: Fortune Teller (Baka)

Hinata: Shield ------------------- Chouji: Roller ------------------ Deidara: Hungry Ino: Manipulator ---------------- Kiba: Guard -------------------- Itachi: Predictor Kurenai: Guide ------------------ Konohamaru: Kid ------------- Kakuzu: Emotional Moegi: Swirl --------------------- Kotetsu: Faker ------------------ Kisame: Spikes Sakura: Little Girl --------------- Naruto: Tails ------------------- Leader: Unknown Shizune: Pacifist ---------------- Neji: Seer ---------------------- Unnamed Member: Loner Tenten: Dragon ----------------- Shikamaru: Dreamer ----------- Zetsu: Double Tsunade: Mama ----------------- Shino: Silence

--------------------------------------------------------_  
"I told you to quit with that name runt."  
...  
"Where did they go this time?"  
...  
"Tell us the truth-_

_-Uzumaki."_  
--------------------------------------------------------

Naruto gently pushed the Samehada down with the back of his black glove limiting the amount of chakra it could eat. Once it was safely away from his neck and shouldered by Kisame, he maintained his indifference as he said, "For the last time _Gills_, I'm not lying."

Kisame tch'ed, then smirked, revealing rows of jagged teeth; he got him now. "If that's so, how in the world are you supposed to get back? They do know you're with us, right?"

"Supposedly no. Don't forget Fish Face, most of them believe that Uzumaki Naruto is dead." Naruto then stopped, looking momentarily confused before features cleared up save his knitted eyebrows. "I don't remember how I'm getting back. I think Shikamaru said something about a team coming to look for me after talking with you. Or was it that I was supposed to go find the dispatched group..."

Kisame with annoyance etched into the creases of his face quickly strode over and slapped Naruto upside the head, earning a glare. "We don't care about that, we just want to know where they went."

"I told you that I don't know stupid!"

"Tch! Me? Stupid?"

"Both of you shut up for the last time!" The feuding pair subsided but continued to bug the other by pokes or jabs every now and then.

Kisame eventually parried and managed a jab into Naruto's stomach before sniffing the air, mouth ever widening. "Well if you don't know you useless fox, let's ask those two!" He pointed Samehada straight at the bushes behind Naruto whom retained a calm visage.

Shikamaru swore in his head, clutching the timer hard until he lost sensation to his fingertips. Ino on the other hand was staring straight at the Samehada, curious as to what it looked like beneath the bandages as her head tried to distract itself from her current shocked state.

"Come on, stand up you two and take a bow. You finally have the chance to meet three Akatsuki members; _**all at once**_," Kisame grinned, baring his teeth once more.

Knowing that there would be no use defying them at the moment (three against two with one frozen in fear), Shikamaru rose while pulling Ino up by her armpits. He kept one arm around her waist, holding her protectively while the other dropped to his side.

"Ah? Shikamaru, Yamanaka, didn't know you two were still here," stated a calm Naruto, eyeing the pair.

"What do you think you're doing Shikamaru?" Ino whispered softly so that only he could hear. He didn't answer. "Shikamaru..." He squeezed her lightly but that was the only response she received.

"Ne, Shikamaru, I thought you of all people would have been best at hiding," commented Naruto in an almost too casual manner at the moment.

"Why so?" drawled Shikamaru though his answer had an underlying tone of something not easy to describe.

"Because you're a coward."

"Oh?"

"Yep. At the first sign of trouble, you're usually the first to run away; not take any responsibility. Like what happened with Asuma."

That triggered a nerve. Shikamaru drew in a breath, looking rather disappointed (at who? Possibly himself) and abruptly changed topics. "I have to say Naruto, you did have me fooled. That's quite the feat you accomplished. Care to tell me who you're working for exactly?"

"It's kind of staring at you right in the face you dolt. How in the world were you graded as a genius? Anyway, I was working with Akatsuki long before joining your group. You let me in so easily just because I was an old face from olden-day Konohagakure. You should always double check who gets into your group in the future all right?" With no further reply from Shikamaru, Naruto continued and asked, "So where is everybody?" as he cocked his head to one side.

Upon no reply, Kisame straightened Samehada once more, but this time it was directed at Shikamaru. "He asked you a question so answer it."

"I thought he was under your command." Kisame's face scrunched a little. "Why answer him when I should answer to you." Kisame's face contorted once more and decided to settle into displeasure.

"Stop wasting time Nara," spoke Itachi, "Trying to buy time to teleport to another area will not help you right now."

Shikamaru grinned sadly to himself. "I guess not, but it was worth the try."

"No, I wouldn't say so. Now come on Shikamaru, where are the others?" demanded Naruto while his brows edged further down closer to his eyes.

"That I'll have to keep secret even after I die," he said as he yawned, covering his mouth with his free hand as the other firmly grasped onto. Then with a sudden burst of chakra, Shikamaru smirked as the two disappeared (by jumping up into the tree branches); Itachi's kunai, Kisame's Samehada, and Naruto's shuriken just millimetres away from having beheaded the pair.

Kisame smirked before scowling slightly when Naruto took a step forward (intending to retrieve his kunai). "Shark Face, I'll say one thing, I get those two. Nara's particularly important to keep alive so I don't want you going in and messing up our plans, got it?" The older one sneered at his subordinate but denied him a reply. The message was understood. Itachi's eyes subtly narrowed but curtly nodded towards Naruto, giving him permission to proceed as he wished. The latter blinked in response before vanishing from his spot.

Up above, Shikamaru continued jumping and running while pulling Ino along as he dodged the many projectiles Naruto threw at them, cursing out loud as they went in deeper into the forest. It was really hard running while still guiding another but Shikamaru tried a few times to bring Ino back to reality without success. Kunais nicked his skin as they flew past. A few shallow wounds later, "INO!" Shikamaru suddenly yelled, thankfully bringing Ino back into full consciousness. He immediately let go of her hand and ordered for her to, "TAKE LEAD!"

Shaking herself 'awake', she immediately fell into the routine she, Shikamaru, and Chouji had practised long ago in their team missions. The two had reversed roles as she became the head of the team leading Shikamaru along. He stayed a little ways behind her and with his own kunais, knocking away as many of Naruto's weapons headed in their direction. Ino at some points also turned around and used her spare senbons to do the same thing.

They were making some progress but Naruto was definitely gaining on them as well as his multiple kage-bunshins. "Shikamaru! Do you have any plans?" she shouted over her shoulder.

He quickly caught up to her and shamefully said, "Not this time. He somehow managed to-" he ducked down a level, Ino following as a flurry of shurikens passed just overhead, "-think ahead by two moves."

"You've GOT to be KIDDING me!" she yelled but then suddenly, she screamed in pain. She lost a step but regained her balance and path, still moving forward. She refused to look at her wound. Shikamaru noticed her slow down (he couldn't help at the moment) and worked harder at protecting her but the number of Narutos kept increasing along with the number of weapons. His wounds weren't helping him much either.

A while later, when Ino was hit by a few more shurikens, blood gurgled up her throat. She found herself tripping on a branch and was suddenly dropping towards the forest floor. She landed at an awkward angle and twisted her ankle and the pain was enough to keep her lying down on the ground. However, she finally had the small chance to check the damage done earlier. She twisted her head slightly and there, from behind stabbing through her back to just above her left kidney was an embedded kunai. She faced forward again in time to throw up more blood on top of the autumn leaves lying on the ground.

A high-pitched 'shwing' was heard from above and then a dull but squishy 'thud' soon followed. Blood dripped onto the back of Ino's arms and she turned around to find Shikamaru on all fours panting above her. His blood dribbled down his mouth to his chin and landed on her arms. He quickly turned aside to wretch up more. That was when Ino caught sight of the large shuriken embedded into his back. "Shikamaru!"

She turned around from underneath quickly, still keeping in mind that she too was injured and held onto her comrade. "Shikamaru!" she said again, eyes wide as she hugged him.

"How touching," drawled an emotionless Naruto from above, "this reminds me of when Iruka-sensei did the same for me back in the Academy days. You should be happy that you have him around Yamanaka," he finished. Looking into his eyes, Ino found them to be unreadable. "Just die this time though, would you?" he restated from before. "It'll be easier for the two of you. I have to say though Shikamaru, you may be judged as a genius but know that there are always smarter ones out there. It's as you said, I'm a few steps ahead of you this time." He grinned sinisterly.

Shikamaru coughed once and turned to look at the other. His eyes however still showed clarity in thinking and he smirked. The frown and creases that formed on Naruto's visage definitely indicated displeasure. "Just what's so funny you half-dead deer?" he sneered.

"You think you're ahead," Shikamaru said softly, "but you're really not. I'm glad that I got you to believe that you were though." Like a dead man's last breath, he chuckled seemingly a bit desperate and delusional. For a moment, he also choked on blood.

"Right," said Naruto condescendingly, "I thought that that would be your final words. Unable to accept defeat am I right?" Naruto jumped down and slowly progressed towards them as did his five other copies; each holding a kunai. "Especially from a social reject like me, huh?"

On the inside Ino was freaking out. 'No... No! I don't want to die Shikamaru! I don't want to die! I don't want you to die!-'

"-SHIKAMARU!" Ino yelled at the end. He was suddenly holding onto her and mumbled quietly, "Stupid girl," and her whole world suddenly warped out of place. Within seconds, she was in a different part of supposedly the same forest but there were no Narutos around, nothing but her and-

"-Shikamaru!"

-------------------------------------------------

A/N: ... It's late... Hrms... Sumimasen And yes, this chapter was only to fix up the previous one (I finally found my files). Just wondering how long it'll take to write the stuff out. However, I do with everyone a happy new year (Chinese new year)!!


	19. Safe For A While 2

Title: Come Back to Me  
Series: Naruto  
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea.

A/N: Hauuuuuuuuuu, sumimasen!! It's been a while since a new chapter ne? Please forgive me. It's just, with the manga right now, I'm losing a lot of motivation to write since the manga's just... so... crappy to me right now (gah!). So I will probably deviate from it in terms of people's strengths/abilities because there's just so much more information now that I'm almost lost in how to incorporate them all together.  
But yes, it IS a new chapter! Hurrah!  
Oh, and there is a little bit of Japanese text in this one. Tell me if it sounds dumb having it there and if I should keep it all to English or if you don't mind the Japanese, please tell me that too hehe. I ask that because I have read some fics where the writers randomly put in Japanese text and it just... ruins the fic. So yes.  
ONTO THE CHAPTER!! (And it's in on the Leap Day of the Leap Year!)

Sasuke: Fortune Teller (Baka)

Hinata: Shield ------------------- Chouji: Roller ------------------ Deidara: Hungry Ino: Manipulator ---------------- Kiba: Guard -------------------- Itachi: Predictor Kurenai: Guide ------------------ Konohamaru: Kid ------------- Kakuzu: Emotional Moegi: Swirl --------------------- Kotetsu: Faker ------------------ Kisame: Spikes Sakura: Little Girl --------------- Naruto: Tails ------------------- Leader: Unknown Shizune: Pacifist ---------------- Neji: Seer ---------------------- Unnamed Member: Loner Tenten: Dragon ----------------- Shikamaru: Dreamer ----------- Zetsu: Double Tsunade: Mama ----------------- Shino: Silence

--------------------------------------------------------

Lumpy, but comfy. She inhaled deeply and exhaled.

Good. Nothing hurt too much.

Ino cracked her eyes open to see canvas meeting at a point above her head. Her hand went to rub her eyes awake but then it felt another warm hand on top. Ah, Shikamaru was sound asleep sitting on the floor, head resting on the mattress. It was his on hers. So Ino used her other hand.

As they were clasped, her thumb circled soothingly over the back of his hand wondering then how calloused her hands had become. He was safe; so was she, and she smiled gently all the while as she thought to herself. A few minutes after, she could feel her strength drain from her again so she resumed her sleep but missed Shikamaru's grin.

It was deja vu; Ino woke again though this time he was gone. But, as though he were summoned, the tent's entrance threw open and in Shikamaru came.

"You're up." She blinked stupidly in response to his blutness. "And you're stupid."

She blinked again, then blew. "WHAT!? Is that how you say thanks to the one that _saved_ you?"

"You nearly burned the both of us to death!"

Memories of her fire jutsu flashed past; blood, burns, black. "There wasn't any other way to stop the bleeding!"

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, but you were really close to killing yourself from chakra depletion!"

"But I'm not dead nor you! Plus, there's no infection right?"

She heard something along the lines of "crazy med-nins" but he beat her to speaking. "Be glad that the other two were able to fix you up aesthetically as well."

Curious and having already sat up due to her outburst, with a bit more effort, Ino managed to look at her wound and acknowledged the handiwork of the pair. It was almost as if she were unmarked. Arms wrapped around the suddenly startled girl and she instinctively blushed when he whispered, "I'm glad you're all right but don't scare me like that again."

"...Shi-D-Dreamer..." She turned to face him but by then he had already started to pull away.

Keeping her bewildered, he poked his head out the entrance and said, "You can come in."

Sakura literally bounced into the space ignoring her leader and rushed over to her sister's side. "Mani! Mani!" It was the short and cuter version of Ino's call sign. "You're okay!" It was obvious that Tsu-neechan had been training the pink-haired one. The meaning of a 'bone-crushing hug' had never been clearer.

"Aa, it's good to see you too LG," managed the injured through gasps of air once Sakura released her looking rather sheepish. However, it did nothing to stop her from launching into questions asking her sister how she was doing, if anything still hurt, and simply catching up with her.

"It's also good to see you both still getting along as you'll need each other in the coming days," interrupted Dreamer in their light discussion. Their eyes fixed on him and both sobered as they understood why they were together. "Your task this time is to find Tails and to bring him back here. Manipulator has the needed information of his whereabouts. You are dismissed."

Sakura was stunned. That had to be the shortest briefing in all nin history of a mission. Seeing that Dreamer made no movement to leave the tent, she turned to her sister and immediately chills were sent along her spine in all patterns. The indescribable atmosphere surrounding her friend frightened her to the point that she thought it best to just get up and leave. "So let's meet up tomorrow morning all right Mani?" The curt nod she received was enough to let her launch out of the tent into the free air outside.

He wasn't inexperienced with women so he waited for her to speak first. "What kind of joke are you pulling _Leader-san_?" He waited a little bit more. "Because it's not funny, not in the least."

"Ino-"

Her head shot up as she darkly glared at him. "Don't say my name if you're going to do something like this." He resigned himself to waiting again, preparing for the incoming verbal onslaught and knowing thankfully that the Shinkan Jutsu (1) had been placed upon the medical tent. "WHY? Tell me Dreamer, why are we going to find him?"

"He is still one of us."

"You have to be joking! He fully declared himself to be with Akatsuki!"

"It's not true. He's one of our spies. He had to make it look like he's really with them."

"I don't want him here!" she continued heatedly.

This, however, stoked his anger. "It's not up to you, Manipulator! You have to bring him back!

She yelled as loudly as she could, "I don't want him to hurt you again!" Dreamer stopped and looked at her stunned. Tears streamed past her cheeks as she quietly said, "I don't want him to hurt Shika again... You really scared me after we escaped."

Unsure how, Shikamaru found himself suddenly sitting on the bed hugging her as she cried onto his shoulder. He sat shocked while rubbing circles on her back and supporting her against him. At length, he said quietly, "You have to trust me Ino, he's with us. So please, go find him." She nodded into his shoulder a few minutes later, trusting him fully that he knew what he was doing. Still, they remained together a bit longer until he gave her a small squeeze and released her, pulling away slightly.

She raised her eyes to meet his, intent on saying goodbye (knowing that he needed to leave for his duties) but instead noticed how close they were. And for once, she was happy to have cried as her suddenly warm and rosy cheeks seemed no different from her crying-like-a-baby cheeks. 'His eyes are nice.'

Then he suddenly closed them a fraction longer than a blink before patting her shoulders; severing the odd link they had. He noiselessly stood and headed towards the exit and without looking at her, threw over his shoulder, "Rest up Manipulator. You'll be busy for quite a while. You may also rest up in here." With that, he abruptly strode out the tent, deactivated the Shinkan Jutsu, and headed off quickly to his other tasks.

By the time he returned to his tent that night to sleep, instead of only finding Chouji (not snoring of all things), next to him was Ino, fast asleep on her right side. He noticed her travel pack by the entrance, ready to be picked up in a hurry if need be. Silently, he slipped next to her, lying on his left side. His hand seemed attracted to her face as it gently stroked her tear-free cheeks and pulled back some loose strands of hair from her face. Before his eyes closed for the rest of the night, he whispered to her, "Itterashai."(2)

However, he did not hear her reply saying, "Ittekimasu,"(3) the following morning for by the time he rose from bed, she had already disappeared.

-------------------------------------------------

A/N: Okaaaay, so for the bracketed numbers:  
(1) Supposedly a direct translation for "Silence Technique" (there's so many forms of the word 'silence' so I just took the first one I found on an online dictionary ahahahaha)  
(2) Usually what people say when seeing someone off. Pretty much it's saying, "Have a safe trip"  
(3) Usually what people say when leaving from somewhere, like his/her home. So it's like they're saying, "I'm leaving," or "I'm going out."

Okay, yes, it is also a pretty short chapter, but I found this to be a really good cut-off point. But ohohohoho! ShikaIno-esque? What AM I thinking? Ohohohohoho!!


	20. Red Clouds Against a Black Sky

Title: Come Back to Me  
Series: Naruto  
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea.

A/N: Okay, so I just finished reading Shaman King by Hiroyuki Takei and I have to apologize to all of you. I've forgotten what it feels like when you want to read something but the author/writer just doesn't put any stuff out so I'm really, **_really_** sorry.  
I'll be honest with you all though, I've lost a lot of the passion to write because the actual Naruto series to me is just not as good as it used to be. I'm still reading the manga but in my head, I'm trying to wrap around how to add all that new information into this fic (haha, guess I shoulda written it faster before all these new things popped out huh.  
Another reason is also because this chapter was one of the HARDEST things I've had to write. Nothing melded together well at all.

But anyway, before this whole fic becomes an A/N instead of a chapter, I present to you, "Red Clouds Against a Black Sky."

Sasuke: Fortune Teller (Baka)

Sakura: Little Girl -- Naruto: Tails  
Ino: Manipulator -- Chouji: Roller -- Shikamaru: Dreamer  
Kurenai: Guide -- Hinata: Shield -- Kiba: Guard -- Shino: Silence  
Tenten: Dragon -- Neji: Seer  
Tsunade: Mama -- Konohamaru: Kid -- Moegi: Swirl -- Kotetsu: Faker -- Shizune: Pacifist

Itachi: Predictor -- Kisame: Spikes -- Deidara: Hungry -- Zetsu: Double -- Kakuzu: Emotional -- Unnamed Member: Loner -- Leader: Unknown

--

Recap:

_Shikamaru and Ino managed to get away from the three-manned Akatsuki team by use of Shikamaru's teleportation technique though both ended up with fatal injuries. Ino managed to stop the blood flow by burning and charring the wounds before passing out at which time Shikamaru was able to get help from the nearby rebel members.  
After waking up and finding herself healed, Ino was teamed up with Sakura to go on a mission to retrieve Naruto to bring back to the camp. Ino was unhappy (to say the least) with the idea but eventually consented and that brings us to our current position._

--

"Mou, Mani, can we stop for a bit?" Lil Girl (LG) rested a few trees behind the 'leader' of the group using one hand to support herself against the tree's trunk.

"See? This is why I told you not to eat that third fish during lunch." LG flashed a quick mean look at the other, catching the humourous tone in that statement.

"Yeah, but," she heaved a bit, "I couldn't let it go to waste!"

Mani lifted a finger to her lips and set her face in a thoughtful pose. "I guess that's true, but that's the reason why I said also to let that one back into the stream earlier." She smirked at the supposed (but rather withered glare) LG tossed at her. "But I guess it's nice that not everything about you has changed. Even when we were little kids you always wanted to eat a lot."

"Oi oi! Don't twist the truth! I was just trying new things!"

"Hai hai, and all those bentos that you had during lunch? How many? Two? Sometimes three?"

"Mom kept packing all that in my bag every day, even when I told her to stop! But it's not like they were full to the top. You have to admit though, my lunches were _always_ better than yours."

"Well your takoyaki were quite good."

"Heh, so I guess you did have a broader range in taste. I thought that you only liked tomatoes and pudding."

"Oh please, I'm not a kid anymore, although tomatoes are still my favourite. Oh," she giggled to herself as LG looked at her a bit confused, "I often thought it was funny how your hair was only a much lighter shade of the anko paste I used at home."

"Eh? Man, you really are weird."

Mani simply stuck her tongue out at the other before looking up at the sky. "Ah," started up Mani, "it's starting to get dark. Shoot, we didn't get as far today as I had hoped. Oh well, if you want, we can talk later assuming we still have energy after setting up camp and eating dinner."

"Ahhhh, don't say 'dinner', I'm still full from lunch!"

"Great!" LG looked suspiciously at the grin on Mani's face. "I'll get the food, you pitch the tent and start the fire!"

Flustered and annoyed, LG managed to only yell at Mani's retreating back, "But you know I **hate** doing all that!"

Sighing to herself, LG set about to her task knowing that complaining would serve nothing. Finding quickly a small clearing in the area and setting up markers so that only Ino could interpret them and find her quickly, Sakura amassed the leaves in the area as kindle. She continued her duties though only half her mind was set upon the work. 'Wonder if I'll be able to tell her tonight... Should I bring it up like that?' she'd think before shaking her head and resume her thought processes.

Next came the sheets that she laid on the forest floor, careful to toss the twigs aside but kept them near as well so that it'd be easy-grabbing in the morning when the two needed to cover up their tracks. Firewood was easy to find though Sakura was careful to not gather from only one spot but from multiple areas for the same reason as keeping the twigs nearby. It was only after the fire started that her features relaxed a bit on her face for she had finally thought of the way to bring up once again that certain topic.

Ino returned holding yet again a pair of fish but upon looking at Sakura's horrified expression, she smiled in sympathy and revealed from behind her back a rabbit with mushrooms, already skinned and prepared. The only thing that was left to do was to heat and eat.

"'rugatou Mami. S'good!"

"Didn't I tell you not to talk with your mouth open?"

Swallow. "Haha, sorry _mom_, but you understood anyway."

"Well, having played 'Chubby Bunny' with you as kids has paid off."

"Ah, I'm not that bad." Mani simply rolled her eyes. Sniffing the air, LG eyed this to be the opportune time to make her move. "Ne, Mani?"

"Hm?" It was slightly comical seeing Mani with fish sticking halfway out her mouth as she stared at LG in a rather fish-looking manner.

"Your fish seems to remind me of something."

She chewed and swallowed. "Yeah dummy, a fish."

LG's cheeks puffed out a little. "That's not what I meant! I mean the smell reminds me of something."

"Eh?" Mani sniffed her fish then turned back to look at LG with a raised eyebrow. "What're you trying to get at?"

"Well, doesn't it remind you a bit of something fishy that you'd find in stuff like cup noodles from way back when?"

"Ara? Cup noodles? I guess... if you stretch it that far. I suppose it's kinda like those things you'd sometimes find in ramen or something. They always did taste fake. So, wait, was that all you wanted to say?"

Though she tried to hide it, LG's eyes flashed with a look of triumph for a split second. "Actually," she looked at Mani's still-questioning face, "there's something I've been wanting to tell you..." Slightly embarassed herself, LG looked at the ground as she tried to stop blushing.

It was apparent that Mani had gotten the wrong message. "That again? Look LG, I, uhm... Sorry? I..." her hands circled each other as she tried to choose her words carefully, "can't accept your feelings?"

Red-faced, but no longer from blushing, LG nearly yelled at her companion, "Baka! That's not what I was going to say!"

She watched Mani sigh from relief. "Then what did you want to say?"

Suddenly becoming shy again, LG seemed to take on a Hinata-esque attitude as she started to play with the twigs on the floor. "Eto... anou..."

"Hah?"

"It's just... uhm..."

She heard Mani sigh again, but more so out of annoyance this time. "Just spit it out Little One."

LG puffed her cheeks again at her second nickname but then quickly calmed herself as she brought her eyes level with Mani's. "It's just... I... I think..." (Mani found it hard to restrain herself from tossing out a small insult at this point), "I think I l-like someone."

"Eh? Are you serious?" LG's slight and nervous nod affirmed her statement. "But LG, this isn't the time to start having a relationship. With a war and-"

"I know that!"

"Then how can you start liking someone?"

"Hey! It's not like I can just say to myself, 'Self, don't like anyone!'."

"Yeah, still-"

"Do you wanna know who it is or not?" LG cut in quickly and rather sharply.

"U-uh... sur-" LG noticed that something seemed to click in Mani's head and was miffed when Mani resumed saying, "Ah, sorry LG but it's getting late." She rose from her seat and took the bucket of sand next to her. Tossing the contents, it effectively cut the oxygen from the fire, instantly killing it. "It's my turn to be on the first watch so you go to sleep. I'll wake you when it's time to switch."

"W-wait a second Mani! Don't you wanna hear who it is?" For some reason, LG felt like Mani had just kicked her in the gut (or maybe it was her head. There seemed to be a headache that was starting to come on). Seeing that the other remained silent, LG huffed a bit then went to her makeshift bed and did her best to let sleep take her.

Ino looked sadly at her friend-turned little sister's back as the other lay down, not knowing completely why she didn't want to hear those words come from LG of all people. 'She doesn't understand what he's done, who he really is. At least, who he is now. Then again, do I really know any better?'

_'He's one of our spies.'_

Dreamer's words echoed in her head. Sure Ino could easily believe the words, but she couldn't believe _in_ the words. Instinctively, her hand went to rest upon her perfectly healed wound but the memory remained. Shivering despite having wrapped a sheet around herself, Ino found that she was still uneasy with the idea of having him around again. He really had scared her, nearly and quite literally, to death.

The night remained fairly quiet with only the faint whispers of water rushing off a cliff in the distance. At the appointed time, Mani shook LG awake before settling herself down on the hard ground and rolled over to promptly fall asleep. Her sister sat up while rubbing her eyes (cursing the small bits of dirt that got in) and immediately went to the water bottles to wash her face. That helped in the waking up process as well.

Glad that her headache was gone, Sakura couldn't help but begin to wonder about what had happened earlier that night. Was her sister really that ticked off at the fact that she had fallen in love again? Okay sure, there was a war going on so a person really shouldn't be distracted by romance but who has a heart that can close itself off to things like that? Plus, she'd been a romanticist for almost all her life, it's not like it was an easy mold to break out of at the snap of a finger.

'Guess these would be considered as excuses... but even if they are, it doesn't mean that I can erase my liking for someone right?' Sighing to clear her head, Sakura listened to the wilderness, hearing the same distant waterfall as Ino did. It somehow soothed her although she was convinced that she didn't need soothing; nothing was wrong. Then again, there may still have been a bit of frustration welled up inside, but the rushing water seemed to just wash it all away. She lost herself in the aquatic song, closing her eyes and momentarily forgetting what she was supposed to be doing.

Then suddenly it stopped.

Her eyes shot wide open, her body tensed. A kunai seemed to appear from nowhere into her hand as she searched the visible surroundings. Slowly and quietly, she tiptoed over to Mani and gently shook her as she covered the other's mouth to prevent any sounds from being heard. Her eyes kept searching the area, looking to the tree tops to the bushes then back. It wasn't until she finally looked at her sister that she realized that the eyes staring back at her vaguely reminded her of the Sharingan.

Without having even the time to gasp out loud, a hand shot to her neck from behind. It pinched a nerve and without a peep, the man picked up her slack body and tossed her over his empty shoulder.

He looked at his partner, grinning and baring his jagged teeth. "Never thought you'd look so good as a girl Itachi."

The other released his genjutsu glaring at Kisame all the while. He reached down to pick up Samehada before quickly leading the other back to their temporary base.

--

"Ugh... mmm..." One girl blinked once, then twice. Finding that her eyesight still hadn't cleared, she rubbed them with her hand; if only she could. Startled to find that her hands were bound behind the back of the chair she was currently in, she did her best to clear her vision by blinking and swirling her eyes around in their sockets, all the while trying to orient herself in the room that she was in and to know how strong the bonds were around her hands, feet, and waist. Her shoulders were definitely starting to hurt though. And crap, one eyelid was starting to itch too.

"Your eyes trying to join a circus or something?"

Careful to not show emotions on her face, Manipulator slowly brought her gaze to meet with the one standing a short distance away. She was sure he hadn't been there seconds earlier. "No, but funny that you ask that; I thought you escaped from the circus yourself, Hosh_gaki_-san."

A chortle was heard to her right and another face revealed itself. "She got ya there, heh."

"Stuff it wannabe-artist."

"KEH!? Take that back! Otherwise you'll be my next exploding art piece! Un!"

"Tch, all you explode is diarrhea!"

Ignoring the pathetic dialogue before her ("I can make art out of anything, even with your ugly body!"), Mani found Little Girl sitting to her right, bound in the same manner as she too watched the scene before them. LG quickly looked over to her sister and mouthed, 'I'm fine' to her before looking ahead of herself once more. Not to be fooled by her act, Mani knew already that LG was actually trying to scan the room with as little chakra as possible to see if there were any others around. Mani on the other hand set about on her task to get out of her chair though she knew already that most of it was in vain. The bracelets she wore before the capture that held extra pins (that would have been slightly useful at the moment) had been removed and she correctly guessed that all of her weapons had been taken as well.

A blanket of silence suddenly came upon the entire room surprising both girls. Kisame and the blond were watching Itachi as he came in (he told the bickering duo to shut up). Standing in front the bounded two, he shifted his gaze between them before landing on Sakura. "This one," he directed at the blond.

LG began to struggle in her seat, attempting to make it difficult for the other to grab her. "What're you planning to do?" she yelled more than asked.

"What do you think?" He smirked and simply went behind the chair to lift it from the sides though the constant thumping on the seat was bothering him. She even nearly hit him in the face when she snapped her head back.

"Put her down-" Mani's head twisted to the left and it took a short while before pain registered on the right side of her face. LG sat stunned while looking at Itachi's fist. He had actually punched her. Blood slid out from Mani's mouth before she tried to suck it back in; she found then that it hurt to move her mouth at all.

Not interested in the drama, the blond continued carrying his pink bundle out the room whom, when she recalled what was happening, resumed banging around in her seat in hopes of him leaving her there. Luck was not with her today and soon she was hoisted out into another similar room though in this one, a female awaited her inside.

"Yo, Konan, we get to play with this one, un!" he said in a playful tone. The expressionless girl simply nodded her head.

--

Shift.

'Ow...'

Shift.

The moan escaped from her too quickly for her to retract it. She listened to her heavy breathing, no doubt caused from the injuries she had taken, and then slowly opened her eyes after hearing nothing else stir in the surroundings.

'Crap...' Before her, as small as a real one, a clay chick hopped about looking as though it were pecking for seeds on the dirt ground.

"BAM!" came a voice. The chick exploded on command. Bits of clay hit her face.

Sakura would have jumped had she the energy, but instead tried to relax her tightened muscles as footsteps approached her. Red clouds against a black sky appeared in front of her as Deidara came to a halt. She could practically feel his eyes and twisted smile looking at the back of her head. It was confirmed when he slipped his hand under her chin to bring her face up to look at him. "Saa, Pinkie-chan, you've been through a lot these past few days, un. Just telling us where your group's hideout is will be enough for us to release you." Earning no quick response, he continued with his many-day-old speech, "For all you know, the site might have already been changed since you haven't returned after such a long time. So even if you tell us what you know now, it might actually all be old hash, un."

She saw the familiar irritated frown begin to form out of the somewhat frightening smile before he released her head, allowing it to once again to drop. "Kona-an," he whined, "she's still being stubborn."

The other sighed at his antics wishing hard that she could be with Pein so as to have some peace around her. "I'll say it once more. When forcing others to speak doesn't work, try trading." Being with Deidara for fifteen solid days to torture a girl in hopes of retrieving information had cost Konan all of her patience (which was quite a feat). As she left the room, the origami user looked back at the almost-lifeless body sitting in the chair before gliding her way out.

"Trading... Trading huh? Hmm..." Back in the room, the young man paced around as he repeated the word again and again. "AH!" His eyes lit up and immediately he ran over to the still-bowed-headed girl. "You tell me something and I'll tell you about your friend in the other room, un!"

That caught her attention.

Attempting to stir her vocal chords, having not used them in days, Sakura asked slowly and raspily, "What's there that you can tell me?"

"Hmmm... Health condition, if she's spilled anything, her..." he knew that he was winning her over when his trailing ending elicited a slight jerk of her head, "...love life?"

The sudden sag of her entire body indicated that he had lost that round.

"Ha... Well, guess you wouldn't need to know about that last part. I mean it's so obvious who it is that she likes, un."

'You've got to be kidding me... I'm bound and have been tortured by Akatsuki for the past how many days? And now the dumb blond wants to talk about Ino's love life? Maybe even Akatsuki members can get cabin fever.'

She had missed a good portion of what Deidara said but caught the last syllable. "-to."

"What?"

"Ah-ah-ahhh," he said while wagging his finger in her face, "no more info from me unless I get something back."

Ducking her head once again, she said irritatedly, "There's nothing that I need to know and I don't know anything that I could tell you anyway. She's not the type to ever reveal information to outsiders, she's strong, and she refuses to have a relationship." 'As surprising as that can be,' she finished thinking to herself.

"She said the same about you, 'cept that you were a stubborn mule as well. You two are surprisingly resilient but I'll just say something quickly." Deidara lowered his voice so suddenly that Sakura nearly missed what he said. "She's almost dead. Seems like the other two had fun with the whips and turned off their brains to her screams un!"

She gasped. "She's..."

"Nuh-uh, not saying anymore unless you tell me something Pinkie-chan."

"There's _nothing_ to tell you."

Putting on a pensive face, Deidara hmm'ed theatrically (and was delighted to see that it was annoying his little toy) and said, "At least tell me what the two of you are trying to do, un." He flashed a smile at the bound girl and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

"Oi! Say something!"

"...someone."

He blinked rapidly for a second, "What did you just say?"

"Don't make me repeat myself!"

"Then you can't get an answer to your question."

He watched her grimace rather cutely before she scrunched up her reddening face to reply, "We're looking for someone."

Then he just stared at her dumbly. "That... doesn't count."

"Yes it does! I told you something now answer my question! How badly is she hurt?"

"Loopholes, huh? Though I like the look on your face Pinkie-chan, getting all riled up over the other's safety. You're kinda cute like that, un." Sakura reddened but quickly glared at him to get on with it. "All right, all right, I'll let this one slide. She's still alive with whip marks here and there. A little on the sickly side but still alive and kicking, literally. Mmkay?"

In a teasing mood, he stuck his tongue_s_ out at her and intent on continuing to toy with her, slipped out quietly, "She's also into," he suddenly perked up, "Ah! Naru-chan!"

'Huh? Who's Anaru-chan? Since Deidara was Hungry and Konan turned out to be Loner... would this one be Unknown?' was all Sakura got to think before Deidara quickly left her side to get to the entrance.

"Haaaaai, Naru-chan, she's all yours!" Then silently whispered to the other, "Make it look good, un!"

The man tch'ed before entering the room, black-red robes and all. To this view, Sakura's eyes widened like never before. 'Naruto!?'

"Na-Ta-Uhm..." 'What am I supposed to call him here?'

Supposed said man closed the door and quietly strode over to the bundled girl. The first thing he said as pissed off as he was was, "How idiotic can the two of you be? To have been caught so easily."

"Euh-eh?"

"Eloquent as always Sakura."

"Wait, what? I mean-" being flustered seemed to have twisted all of Sakura's mental wires so she had to pause and clear her thoughts. "What I meant to say was why are you here? Are you with Akatsuki? I don't... I don't understand..."

Naruto slipped behind her chair, away from her sight and suddenly her arms came loose from the chair. At the exact same moment, she bit her lips to avoid an increasingly large scream of agony escape. Having her arms bound had left her muscles tightened in their positions but now that they were free, shooting pains began to course through her body from the hips up.

Then the pain began to lessen. Breathing shakily, she registered the soothing feeling Naruto's hands gave to her arm muscles as he massaged them. He managed to get her to sit up in her seat and slowly, she began to relax under his touch. Her mind was free of thought for the time being and nearly went into a deep sleep when he started to massage her aching neck muscles.

"Better?" came his rumbling voice.

"Mmm..." she sighed.

After aiding the upper body to regain some feeling, Naruto 'rescued' her legs and massaged her rope-burned ankles. Upon seeing his gear once again as he massaged her feet, Sakura remembered what she was asking. "Ne, Na-uh, you... uhm... uh..."

"Just call me Naruto."

"Aa... okay. Well," she paused and in turn he raised an eyebrow as he continued to concentrate on massaging her returning-to-life muscles, "you can probably guess what I'm going to ask anyway."

"I'll talk about that later. Eventually," he said as he got up from sitting down, "we'll need to get Yamanaka here."

A nod led Sakura to stand. However, her legs gave out but when Naruto caught her, she couldn't help but think, 'Yeah, I really do love this guy'. "S-sorry."

They practised walking and running, trying to remind Sakura's body as to how it ought to move for the next half hour silently. Soon enough though, their session together abruptly came to an end. Forcefully and with her barely understanding what was happening, Sakura found herself back in her seat with her feet and hands bound once again. "W-What!? What're you-"

A finger to her lips was enough to silence her. And just in time as well when the entrance opened to show Kisame carrying in someone. "INO!" Sakura yelled, uncaring of her circumstances. Deidara too came in through the doorway as Kisame proceded into the room.

"Ne ne, Pinkie-chan, here's your friend!"

Bound, bloodied, and barely breathing, Ino was a sight for sore eyes in more ways than one. She was placed close to Sakura, as if to taunt the fact that though she was there, Sakura could not do anything to protect her. "Ino. Ino!"

A weak whisper came out through parted lips, "Sa... Ugh!" She was knocked unconscious by Kisame.

"What'd you do that for!? Ino! Ah!" Her cheek hurt.

"Shut it," came Naruto's irritated voice. Sakura's eyes widened a bit again but she remained silent after.

"Ahhh? Why's Pinkie-chan so energetic Naru-chan?"

"Tch! I told you not to call me that. And like I told you before, if you don't try to forcefully extract information from your opponent, this gives them a bit more energy."

"Yeah but... you're always so soft on them."

"Whatever. Anyway, just so you know, apparently those two's mission was to come find me."

'Eh? I didn't say anything!' thought Sakura.

"Haaaah? She told you stuff? But why didn't you tell me Cutie-chan?" He directed the latter part of his question at her.

"Screw off," she replied through clenched teeth.

"Feh, this is ridiculous," commented a bored Kisame. "Gag 'em F-art Boy."

"Oh yeah, like Fart's such an original nickname, Gills-chan."

"Yeah, F-art for Fake Art."

Kisame smirked at his little victory as the other went over first to Ino but as he gagged her, she started to choke. "Stop! She's already knocked out right? Don't do anything else to her!" started Sakura once again. "I said stop! Ino! INO! Stop already! Ino! IN-AHHH!" Paper birds and shurikens flung past her face, nicking and slicing her skin. Off in a corner stood Konan, the twitch in her eye being the only indication to display her annoyance. Nevertheless, Sakura continued to holler out, "INO! IN-ahmmf!!"

"Stop screaming, you sound like the idiot you are," said Naruto as he gagged her from the front. "You really do have a big mouth, ne?" Sakura's angry but muffled retort traveled through the rags. She eventually did cease but only because he suddenly winked at her while maintaining a look of seriousness.

'What was that all about?'

--

Days passed although there were more occurrences of Naruto coming around to help the two out of their chairs to move their muscles. Each meeting was relatively done in complete silence during which Ino never spoke to either of the two. At all other times, both girls remained gagged. They soon figured out that the only reason the two were together was that when the gagged one was being tortured, the other without the gag would shout out something to 'save' the other from pain. Or so Akatsuki hoped. They bet on this plan having kept in mind the mentality of most Rebels. However, both were resilient and steadfast in not responding even after being beaten, cut, whipped, and mentally attacked.

Sakura eyed the sleeping Ino dejectedly. The blonde's head hung and Sakura knew without guessing that she would wake up with sore neck muscles. In comparison, the two had slashes on both their legs that were just starting to heal (they had learned earlier on that using First Aid jutsus would only warrant more pain later), numb arms (at least in Sakura's case), and their chopped hair was matted together from all sorts of things (such as blood that may not even be their own). She also figured that her face was not in good condition and could resemble something similar to Ino's (when she was awake and looking around). With their gags removed recently (since it seemed that having them on would not benefit the interrogators anymore), it was easier to judge how broken her lips were by the touch of her tongue's tip.

The door was thrown open once more and then closed with a slam. Naruto's familiar face strode towards the pair holding a healing balm once again in his hand. Without thinking, Sakura suddenly spurted out quietly, "Don't." Already standing in front of her, he gave a questioning look. She figured she had to finish her thought. "Don't help anymore, it only hurts more later."

"I know, but I have to play the part." It had only been a few meetings ago that Sakura learned of Naruto acting as a double agent in Akatsuki. Quickly finishing with applying the balm to Sakura's wounds and untying her, Naruto turned his attention to Yamanaka. She was still asleep. He lifted her head and saw multiple but small wounds marring her face. Ever so gently, he ran his thumb over her lips. Turning his head back to ask Sakura a question, he couldn't help but notice how she seemed to be eyeing him oddly but he ignored it. "Do you know who cut your face?" The questionee raised an eyebrow. "Both you and Yamanaka have face wounds that are quite similar, I was just wondering if you knew who did it specifically."

"Too many have come for me to remember what each one has done. I would place my bet on Deidara having been the one to mess our faces up though." A second later, "Why?"

He shrugged. "Just curious."

A few minutes passed with the two rubbing the balm into Ino's wounds and before they untied her hands, Naruto tried to wake her to no avail. He eventually called for Sakura to finish the task.

"Ino," she seemed to sing out, "it's time for school. You're going to be late." A moan let her know she was going in the right direction. "Come on now, no dilly-dallying. Get up or no breakfast."

"Just five more minutes." Naruto couldn't help but be slightly impressed at Sakura's simple technique.

"No can do, Shikamaru and Chouji are already outside waiting."

"WHAT!?" Ino shouted with strained vocal chords as she stood up. "Those two never wait for me to go-hey what?" Standing was fine, but it felt odd to be standing while tied to a chair that strained her arm muscles. Noticing her position, she flushed and sat, mentally rushing Sakura to finish untying her.

Half an hour passed, once again in almost complete silence save for the slapping of bare feet along the smooth floor and some panting. The girls had been running around the room but now had the chance to catch their breaths. Sakura broke the silence. "Ne, Naruto," she started, "are we ever going to leave?" His breath hitched but he did not reply. "You know, somehow, that both Ino and I came to bring you back to camp. You told Deidara as much without me saying anything."

"Wasn't expecting you to be caught though."

"So it's a bump in the road but with you, we can get out." Naruto once again remained silent but motioned for the two to begin their stretches; their time together was drawing to a close.

The next day, Deidara entered the room much to Sakura's chagrin. A quick glance at the other blonde let him know that she was asleep yet again, but at this he smiled. "Seems like your little friend over there's always sleeping, un?" Sakura made no comment. "So, you're probably wondering why I'm here."

"Not really."

"Not really? So you're just a little bit interested hm?"

"Forgive me O Stupid One, I meant that I'm not interested at all."

"Ehhhhh? But you're the one to bring fun in my life, un." She merely rolled her eyeballs and decided that acting dead would probably be the best choice of action.

A few minutes passed as Deidara paced around the room, riding hard on the heel then light on the toes. It was rather melodic in its own way. "Ne ne, Pinkie-chan, didja ever guess who's Blondie's lover?"

Act dead.

"It's kinda funny, her choice that is, yours too, un!"

Stay still, don't move, and most importantly, don't respond.

"Mou," he drawled out, "you're so boring today! I'm not even here to extract information and you're even less responsive than usual!" He tapped his chin. "Maybe if I just told you the answer right out would you then do something." He waited in vain for any sign of acknowledgement. "Fine, fine, since you're asking so adamantly, the one that Blondie's with is-"

"Would you **just shut up!** I don't care who Ino likes-"

"But I remember you telling me that she doesn't want a relationship, but here she is now in one."

He was right, Sakura thought amazedly. Ino never did actually tell her she didn't want to be in a relationship, she had just assumed that on her own. Deidara smirked all the while as he watched her; finally, something was happening.

Knowing full well that beating around the bush would do no good, Sakura demanded, rather than asked, "Who is it." She couldn't help feeling rather irritated though since she knew that this would only fuel Deidara's desire.

"Guess."

She blinked; didn't see that one coming. "You've got to be kidding me, for once I do what you want and now you want to play games?"

His cheeky smile didn't help lighten her mood. "I did say I was bored, un."

She huffed. "Any clues?"

"Here's a free one, you both know the person."

Like that was any help. "Anything else?" It was clear from her face that Sakura was not enjoying a minute of this whereas Deidara's glimmering eyes told the exact opposite.

"Won't say unless I get something."

"I thought you said you weren't here to extract information."

"I'm not, un." His face seemed to suddenly emit a 'Danger! Danger!' vibe that went straight to Sakura's core.

"So," she hesitated,"what do you want?"

It was a simple word. "Kiss." Yet that single word boggled her. Looking at her confused expression, the man decided to go for a whole sentence. "I want a kiss in exchange for each clue I give you. And no, I'm not kidding." He had read her mind. What was going on? "Oh, and the deeper and longer it is, the better the clue I'll give you, un."

He _had_ to be kidding. But having 'bedded' approximately ten men a night for many months, a kiss didn't seem harmful, but not harmless either. She watched him approach her and place his face directly before hers. "So?"

With his face facing forward, it'd be nigh impossible for Sakura to kiss anywhere else but the lips. But she tried to do otherwise anyway. A quick head jerk and she planted a peck on his nose. "Clue," she demanded.

His eyes narrowed but they remained playful as his mouth tightened slightly. "Fine then, the person's a guy."

She sighed and couldn't help rolling her eyes yet again. "That's it?"

"I told you, the type of kiss determines the type of clue."

His breath wafted over but thankfully he seemed to have brushed his teeth just before coming into the room. Wait, now that she thought about it, did he do that just so he could play this game? Without waiting for her conscience to yell at her, a quick peck was given to him on the lips. His eyes seemed to brighten just a little bit. He quietly chuckled to himself. "Let's see... He's a pretty strong ninja."

Sakura decided to give up on sighing since she figured that it might become a habit after repeating the motion so many times. There was a slight fear of ending up as another Shikamaru. "Everything you're telling me is practically useless."

"Not entirely. If you really think about it, I've already eliminated the entire female population," ('As if I couldn't have guessed that on my own' - Sakura), "and now I've eliminated all the normal people too, un."

An eyebrow raised slowly. "Normal people?" He nodded and she realized that it'd be futile to impose her thinking on his. With his lips still at the ready, she resigned herself to giving in once more, and hopefully for the last time. Sakura's lips found Deidara's once again, but there they remained a trifle longer with a small tongue lick at the end. Yet, as she started pulling back, his hands found their way to the side and back of her head, forcing her to breathe in sharply from the nose as he deepened the kiss. The room spun momentarily in Sakura's vision once he let her go, proving his satisfaction by licking his lips and watching her catch her breath. What he could not see was the small fire curdle itself in her stomach before disappearing after taking in another deep breath. "Well?" she asked breathily, slightly still in shock, "A clue?" He had her complete attention and she was ready to hang off any words that came from his mouth. He couldn't help but smirk a bit.

"He's..." her eyes didn't stray from his, "from..." though the killing aura she was starting to emit was just a little bit frightening, "Konohagakure."

Time stopped. Then it came back in a hurricane of anger. Had she not been tied and tired, Sakura would have leapt from her seat and gouged his eyes out then fed them to the mouths on his hands. Useless! Absolutely useless information! All that she had just done was for nothing! "You have to be joking!"

"Ah? I'm not, seriously."

"No! I mean that kiss only amounted to the same kind of information I'd have received if I'd just pecked you on the forehead," then she dropped her voice to a mumble, "or maybe pecking out your _eyes_ would've been better."

He laughed mirthily, glad that his toy was responding so well to his game (and acknowledging that she was playing it as well). "See, that kiss helped you out a lot though. Had you kept to your normal pecks, I'd have just told you which countries he was not from instead of telling you directly which one he came from."

"Perverted and scheming, two characteristics I find myself hating." Something flashed across her eyes and she quickly turned away from him, shielding herself with her dirty hair.

"And I love you too." And a good thing she had turned away for the heat in her cheeks would have only made him all the happier.

"You know what? I think I'm just going to leave it at that. I don't care anymore and I won't keep playing as you wish."

"Oh, and just so you know," he grinned, "when you guess, to confirm your answer, you also-"

"-need to give you a kiss. I figured as much which is why I'm stopping."

"Mou, you're no fun..."

With her hair shielding her face from his, Sakura didn't know what was happening until too late. He grabbed her head once again, turning her to face him as he captured her lips. His tongue slipped into her mouth easily as she was surprised, unsure of what was going on but as soon as she heard herself moan, she snapped back to reality and jerked away from him as quick as possible. "W-what are-are you-" she sputtered indignantly.

"Blond."

That stopped her. 'What?' she thought and asked, "What?"

"Blond. You deserved at least that much after that kiss."

She sputtered again. "Ki-kiss? You call **that** a kiss? That was more like molestation than anything else!" His smile was not what she was looking for. Rather, all it did was infuriate her all the more.

Then she stopped thinking for a second; something was itching at the back of her mind. Male, ninja, Konohagakure, and blond. Those were her clues and Sakura did not pride herself in the past as being the smartest kunoichi in her class without good reason; the answer was obvious.

He watched her eyes widen before they snapped shut. Her eyebrows came closer together and upon seeing her lips move, Deidara heard her mutter, "So that's why she didn't want me to talk about it. She knew." He smiled predatorily.

Then he put on a surprised face. "What's wrong Pinkie-chan? Figure something out?" She stopped moving; no point in giving him anything else to tease her about. He closed the gap once again, giving her a peck on the cheek and quietly left the room rather satisfied with himself; she hadn't flinched away.

--

It wasn't until two meetings later that Naruto strode into the room after closing the door and flashed a smile. At Sakura's questioning look, he mouthed silently, _ready to go?_ Her face lit up before scrunching itself into pain, split lips were always a hard thing to deal with. She looked over at Ino and saw that she for once was awake on her own but was expressionless as usual. Sakura had never spoken with Ino about her meeting with Deidara, rather, the two hadn't spoken for days with each other because when one was awake, the other'd be asleep. Well, that wasn't the entire truth. There were times that Sakura simply pretended to sleep because she just couldn't find it in herself to start a conversation. Sure she was irked that Ino had never told her about liking Naruto, but over the days, Sakura did her best to suppress her annoyance and today, everything seemed to be going just fine.

It was almost like deja vu how Naruto and his clone picked both girls up and shot out the door. It didn't take long and soon enough they were on the outside, jumping on tree branches away from the hideout that happened to be an indistinguishable cave carved midway into a mountain. The moonlight was apparently enough to light the way as the four continued on their way out. But... it all seemed wrong.

Sakura worried. Her arms were clapsed around Naruto's neck giving her enough support to look over his right shoulder without throwing his balance off. She turned her troubled gaze to her sister whom had her eyes closed yet again and had her arms held together over her chest. A slight pain came over her and so she quickly turned away to look over Naruto's shoulder once more. The rule had been established, as before, that there was to be no speaking while travelling. Yet, the words were out of her mouth before she even thought of stopping.

"How is it that we got out so easily?"

Preceding the sudden descent, Sakura saw Ino instantly wake up and wrap her arms around Naruto's neck. Her breath hitched in her throat and all that she registered was the faint sounds of something whizzing above their heads before the blood rush to her head forcefully knocked her out.

--

A/N: Thanks for sticking with me for so long! And yes, I rushed the editing so sorry if this turned out to be a crappy read (gah).


	21. Author's Note

Wow, two updates today!? No, sorry haha. This is just a heads up again.

I'm going to be working this summer with limited to no Net connection. That is to say that the likelihood of a chapter coming up may be at most once a month.

I know, I probably seem like the worst writer there is on and I apologize for having been so slack with my stories.

But thanks still, for sticking with me :)  
(I really, really appreciate it)

Ryoko-nee


	22. Out on the Town

Title: Come Back to Me  
Series: Naruto  
Disclaimer: "Naruto" belongs to Masashi Kishimoto except this spin off idea.

A/N: Fufu, got another one up )  
Okay, I'll be honest. This chapter was actually written a few months ago, and I thought that I'd be able to post it at least by June.  
I got lazy editing.  
Soooooo, that's why it's out now, during the last days of August... Sorry!  
Yes, I know, I'm terrible. For that I apologize. So I'll put this here and in my next 'chaptered a/n': I believe that I'll probably only get one chapter up each trimester of the year.  
I apologize for being such a lazy bum.

To dfaf: Thanks for the reviews! However, whether you believe me or not is up to you but I've never actually watched "V for Vendetta" before ehehehehe. Interesting though that you made that comparison. I might just have to go watch it some time hehe :)

Sasuke: Fortune Teller (Baka)

Sakura: Little Girl (LG) -- Naruto: Tails  
Ino: Manipulator (Mani) -- Chouji: Roller -- Shikamaru: Dreamer  
Kurenai: Guide -- Hinata: Shield -- Kiba: Guard (Akamaru: Akamaru) -- Shino: Silence  
Tenten: Dragon -- Neji: Seer  
Tsunade: Mama -- Konohamaru: Kid -- Moegi: Swirl -- Kotetsu: Faker -- Shizune: Pacifist

Itachi: Predictor -- Kisame: Spikes -- Deidara: Hungry -- Zetsu: Double -- Kakuzu: Emotional -- Konan : Loner -- Leader: Unknown

--

A kunai hit its target; a rope snapped ten metres away making one of the many log traps fail. Ino couldn't help feeling a bit proud at being able to assist, as minutely as it was, the escape. She was still being carried by Uzumaki or his clone (she could never tell which was the real one) but from time to time, she'd reach into one of his weapon pouches and aid in defending the back. How she longed to have her own set returned.

Uzumaki did his part: darting and dodging out of danger's way while still protecting both girls to the best of his abilities. Sakura remained unconscious which helped and burdened Naruto but Ino's spontaneously defensive counterattacks lightened the load a little, for which he was thankful.

Bits of black and red seeped into his sight between the brown and green of the trees surrounding the escaping group. Slapping footsteps could be easily heard, four sets to be exact. Now that Naruto thought about it, it would be difficult to escape if Yamanaka remained awake. So discreetly, when she reached into his side pocket once more, he allowed her to toss another shuriken away but then quickly maneuvered an arm to let his hand pinch one of her neck nerves. However, that moment left him feeling slightly guilty when he briefly saw the feeling of betrayal lurking at the back of her closing eyes.

Four Akatsuki members surrounded them within minutes. Naruto and his clone, too, soon came to a halt. No more traps were triggered and the pursuers came to rest in front of the two pairs.

"Mou, you're taking them already? You didn't tell any of us and we didn't get to say goodbye, un..."

"Let me draw at least a bit of blood, or maybe an arm, before you're all gone."

"You could have told us you were leaving **so maybe eating one could be our compensation.**"

"A whiner, a vampiric shark, and a venus fly trap. Why is Akatsuki so messed up? Anyway, you know that I have a part to play and did you really have to set up so many genjutsus Itachi?" He received no reply. "Wait, those were all real?"

"Not all baka, but it's just so you to trigger at least three-quarters of them. Honestly, I'm not sure how you've managed to survive so long, un."

"Shut it Potter, Shark Bait stop grinning like that, and stop eyeing these two, the both sides of you Zetsu. It's... disconcerting and rather disturbing." He gave them a second and then resumed talking. "All right, so can I go now? In peace?"

Naruto took Itachi's blink to be the 'go ahead' signal and as he continued forward, from behind yelled Deidara, "SAY HI TO PINKIE-CHAN FOR ME WHEN SHE WAKES UP, UN!" He missed the non-verbal reply Naruto sent back.

The assurance of a breath was all that was needed. He was nearing hysterics when at last, after having given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for what seemed an eternity, she heaved a breath and even coughed once. Within minutes, colour bloomed beneath her cheeks, her breathing pattern stabilized, and he could sit and rest without any worries. Nearby, the other blearily blinked her eyes, willing away her drowsiness and slowly sat up, slightly confused as to where she was. She brushed her hair away from her face and watched the pair before her, unsure of what was going on. His back was to her and her sister seemed as though she were sleeping peacefully next to him.

A shiver ran up her spine when a draft passed her by and she unconsciously wrapped his black-red cloak tighter around herself. "Naruto?" she whispered.

"Tails," was the curt reply and it managed to wake her up more.

"Oh, sorry. Tai-"

"What did I tell you before Little Girl?"

She couldn't help but resent that name a little bit but she returned a question with a bit more tartness than she intended, "What do you mean?"

He turned to face her and the anger hinting in his eyes frightened her some. "What did I tell you about what **not** to do while traveling?"

"T-" the look in his eyes caused her stumble, "-to not speak..."

His cold voice did not let up. "Do you now understand why?" Having been knocked out from the very beginning of the escape, Sakura had no clue as to what had transpired only an hour ago. She shook her head, embarassed and ashamed. "We were attacked," he stated simply.

She recalled then the whizzing noise she heard before blacking out. "I'm sorry," she said knowing that one word would not be enough but was all she could do at the moment.

"You shouldn't be saying that to me."

Confused again, she looked up but then just as quickly looked back to her sister and with a higher-pitched voice quickly asked, "What happened to Ino?"

With genuine concern displayed on her face, Naruto eased up a bit and began then to slowly accept her apology. "She's fine now. Don't worry about her. Just apologize when she wakes up." She nodded her consent. They sat together listening to Manipulator breathe for another two hours barely moving or talking. One felt horrible and the other was still calming down, running through his memories.

The moment he spotted the hollow, he sprinted for it. A racoon family inside ran away frightened when he flared his chakra and the squirrels remained hidden. His clone vanished after setting down the still sleeping Sakura and he in turn laid down Yamanaka. He set up a small fire and seeing that Sakura was shivering, draped his cloak over her and brought her even closer to the little fire. He then turned his attention back to the other girl and that was when he noticed that she wasn't breathing. Her lips were blue as well.

He cursed quietly and rushed over. Immediately he began using all his basic-leveled healing skills and when finished, he started performing CPR until that moment that she finally recovered. He hadn't even thought of waking up Sakura in his blind panic.

Coming back to the present, Naruto looked over to Sakura once more to find that she had fallen asleep again. He couldn't really blame her though. Both she and Yamanaka had been trapped for over a month tied to chairs undergoing torture for the most part. Sakura had also attempted to heal Yamanaka's wounds at some point in time during their two-hour wait and then tried to heal her own as well. However, her chakra supply had been drained severely so hopefully her sleep would replenish her reserves.

A shuddering breath ripped his attention away from her to the other. Yamanaka was just starting to wake up and he helped her sit up when he saw her struggling. Without thinking, she leaned into him for support while trying to catch her bearings. She was startled when his arm came to wrap itself around her shoulders but was too dazed to think much about it.

It wasn't what he intended but to Naruto, it seemed as though his arm moved of its own accord. He wasn't about to pull it away either; that would only draw more attention to it or so he thought. They kept that position for a while longer before Ino roughly pushed away, surprising him. For some reason though, this action combined with not having had enough sleep brought out his grouchiness.

"You're welcome," he said, soaking his words in sarcasm.

"I didn't ask for help." Ah, seemed her ugly side was out as well.

"You'd still be strapped to your chair had I not come."

"For all I know it could have been you that brought us there."

Furrowing his eyebrows slightly, Uzumaki huffed then sighed, relaxing most of his muscles but the facial ones were still strained. "Sorry," he apologized ina different tone, as though he were putting his heart behind the single word.

She raised an eyebrow instead. "Sudden change of heart?"

In one clean movement he had her wrists caught in his left hand and the right had pulled up her shirt bottom to expose her midsection. Yamanaka was too shocked to move but blood rushed into her cheeks. "W-what are you doing?"

She closed her eyes and clamped down on her teeth to fight off the bubbling laughter that was coming from inside when he rubbed a particularly sensitive spot on her lower left back. She regained her head a bit when he commented, "Seems like it healed completely."

He was feeling the spot where his kunai had embedded itself to which Sakura and Tsunade had surgically patched it back to normal. "We have a good set of med-nins on hand," she replied calmly.

A smile began to etch its way onto his face, not that she noticed because she was distracted when he wrapped his arms around her once more but this time also leaned his head on the shoulder facing him. "I'm glad you said 'we'."

'Now what?' Tentatively, after a brief moment of silence, she asked, "Are you always this touchy-feely?"

"Nope, just with you," was his honest reply; she could hear it in his voice. Blood creeped yet again onto her cheeks. He gave her some time to herself and then shifted so that he could look at her. Upon seeing questioning eyes, he simply said, "What?"

Her thoughts ran to catch up with her feelings and eventually her voice caught up with her floundering lips. "Who-what are you? Who are you to me, the Rebels, to all the others?"

"What I am is up to you to determine for yourself. As for the general answer, I am a double agent." His eyes clouded over a little when he apologized once more, "And I really am sorry, for the wound. It's like I told you a long time ago, if the only way to save you was to hurt you, then yes, I would, but not willingly."

She did remember those words; they came around the time that the Takanura pig disappeared. 'But... what _are_ you to me?' Mani wondered. Her head couldn't think clearly.

As they were in close range, she diverted her eyes from his face to look straight ahead without really looking at what was in front. However, when his head came to rest once again on her shoulder, she instinctively leaned her own against the top of his. She was sure she did this because she, Shikamaru, and Chouji used to do that back when they were younger.

Sakura's breaths continued in their regulated pattern and the fire crackled quietly. As she felt her eyes close, Ino asked sleepily, "When are we leaving?"

"Soon." Her breathing evened out. Naruto considered laying Yamanaka down but somehow came to the conclusion that she would be cold and therefore continued to hold her, providing his own warmth as substitute to a layer of fabric. For once in a very long time, he wasn't sure as to when he fell asleep. Nor when it had been last that he had slept so deeply.

He still woke before the girls as his body had adapted to its own circadian rhythm, one that ran on its own time instead of the normal twenty-four hour cycle. Or so it seemed. Slowly and silently, Naruto managed to maneuver himself away from Yamanaka and laid her down on the floor but made sure to place her as close as possible to the small fire as he had done with his sister. Completing a quick check up on the snoozing Sakura, he headed out of the hollow to resume his duties.

By the time the girls woke up, breakfast was already prepared and soon after, the group headed out once more but this time, the girls were moving on their own. The planned route was to move from Lightning Country over to the Earth Country where the new Camp would transfer to in about a week. It was nightfall again and they had spent three days traveling to date. It was also that day that Tails suddenly changed course.

The bewildered female pair kept their mouths shut for they had learned their lesson. Their current trajectory led them towards the Fire Country and they eventually stopped to stay at an inn in one of the remote villages. This one was more like a town though with its developed bright night life; lights streaming and twisting around each other overhead, bars, shops, and restaurants still open with lively people roaming in and out and all about.

The inn sat on the outskirts of the town looking down upon all the action. To economize, Tails henge'd into Naruko (minus the whiskered cheeks) so that the three could share one room without too many suspicious eyes. The other two also transformed so that they all looked more like sisters than a group of girls. As they sat in their room (Naruko to her own bed, the other two shared), Sakura deftly used Shinkan Jutsu (Silence Technique) and began bombarding the pseudo-transvestite crossdresser.

"Just what do you think you're doing Tails!?" The mentioned one merely raised a questioning look. "Oh don't give me that, why are we here? If you already knew that we were coming to get you to bring you back, then why are we changing routes?"

"Ah, well, it's been pre-planned that we'd stay here tonight." The comment was met with a deadened look. "Okay, okay, I'll let you in on something." Little Girl's face came forward whereas Manipulator's only inched a bit closer. "You've both now become a part of my team and mission."

LG couldn't help shooting a glare. "_Your_ team? _We_ came to get you and now we're a part of _your_ team?" Tails figured a nod sufficed. "**What!?**"

"Dreamer selected you two to come be a part of my given mission although you didn't know that that was a part of your own. We're currently searching for another member to bring back to base."

The room remained quiet for a short while. "Do you know who?" asked Manipulator, surprising LG whom had not yet heard her speak since the escape.

"Yeah, she may be easy to spot since she's a fangirl."

Silence shortly reigned before it was cut open yet again, "Say what?" quietly questioned Manipulator. LG had caught on to the slight hint.

Tails was starting to wish that complete silence wasn't only limited to traveling times. As for Mani, she was starting to wish that Dreamer's rule about keeping information hidden from team members be nulled. Calmly, he replied, "We're looking for a fangirl. That's all I can say."

Mani slumped back onto her bed looking over to LG whom was deep in thought. Given time, LG sighed and released her jutsu but nearly jumped when Mani offered her to go to the indoor onsen with her. She wasn't sure why she felt uneasy but she still got her things ready and followed Mani down to the springs.

On their way there, footsteps followed behind the pair at each and every turn. Without panicking, LG alerted Mani about the issue and after turning a corner, stopped to confront the stalker only to realize that it was only Naruko. "What are you doing?" asked a confused LG.

"Ah mouuuu," drawled Naruko putting on a hurt look, "I just wanted to bathe with my sisters."

A heavy _conk_ after left the two real girls to enter the onsen alone. They undressed, showered, and slid under the hot waters glad to finally have their beaten muscles release their trapped tension. It was a quiet ordeal and even more quiet after another Shinkan Jutsu was set up, but only to unwanted listeners for Sakura suddenly realized how opportune this moment was.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Ino's eyes remained closed, trying to play ignorant. "Tell you what?"

"Naruto!" she yelled, frustrated. "About Naruto! Why didn't you tell me you liked him?"

Ino's eyes slowly opened but she did not face her sister. "And who said that I liked him?"

Sakura realized how easily she had given herself away but nevertheless pushed on. "You know who. Who could've slept through that episode?" she said bitterly.

"So you'd believe anything that self-proclaimed artist tells you?" Her voice was calm, maybe a bit too calm for the situation.

And it irritated the other. "That's not the point here Ino! Tell me, do you like him or not?"

Ino turned to face her. "Did I not say before that starting these kinds of relationships is irresponsible during a war?"

"Well here we are with you starting one! Now tell me!"

Ino flared. "I'm not starting one and anyway, why should I tell you?"

"So you do!"

"Why does it matter?"

"Because you're my rival!"

"But I haven't said that I like him!" She was beginning to think this argument was absolutely useless.

"It's evident enough!" As did this one, but she couldn't seem to stop herself.

"What! How?"

"The way how you're reacting is precisely because you like him but won't admit it!"

"Oh, so now you're a psychologist."

"If I were to ask if you liked Shikamaru-"

"He has nothing to do with this."

Sakura was forced into a shocked pause then hesitantly started, "Ino, do you... like-"

"As a brother."

"Aa..."

They lapsed back into silence until Ino broke it with a whisper. "I just... didn't want this to be another Sasuke thing."

She was rewarded with a hurtful retort. "So you thought that I'd act like back then? That I'd be a fool, be an idiot, all to be noticed by one person?"

"That's not it. I just didn't want you to be angry and give up our friendship again."

"So you do like him and you think that I'd still act like I did back then," concluded Sakura. "You know what Ino?" Sakura turned to face her while simultaneously releasing her jutsu, "You're the fool. And just because of this, I'm not giving him to you." Smoothly she exited the room leaving a stunned Ino behind, unsure of how to deal with the situation. The fight was almost as she had predicted, but worse.

Dang, and all she wanted was to soak and relax.

She sunk further into the water until only her nose-up was above. Minutes later a violet-haired woman entered, showered, and entered into the water, sighing as she stretched her body out. She caught Ino's eye and gave her a small wink which was interpreted as a greeting. Ino artificially smiled back then returned to her mind's wanderings.

She was in so deep that she hadn't noticed anything move until she was suddenly hugged from her side; the skin-to-skin contact snapped her back to reality. Instinctively she tried to get away but found that the other's hold was stronger than expected. Unable to reign in her whirlwind-like emotions, Ino nervously raised her eyes to size up the other woman and stopped short.

The eyes shone a mischievous, sparkling blue.

Just like someone else's.

No longer fearful but instead nearing furious, Ino curtly asked, "Are you always this touchy-feely?"

"Nope, just with you," was the expected reply though the cheeky grin and tone did not please Ino.

She sighed. "What are you doing here Naruko?"

"I heard the two of you fighting."

Again 'she' made Ino pause. "How..."

"I figured that from what our dear sister shouted at the end." She henge'd back into her original Naruko form holding an almost invisible smile.

"If you think that that was about you-"

"How could it be?" she roared laughingly, "I'm a girl!"

Ino would have sunk even lower into the water had Naruko's grip not been as deathly around her. It was then that she realized her position. Blushing to the point that she was sure even her hair turned red, Ino tried her best to gently push away but Naruko remained fastened around her laughing at her 'sister's' predicament. She also couldn't help noticing that they were in the exact same position as they were that night in the hollow except for one big gender difference.

"Come on Naruko, let me go." The blonde playfully shook her head. Then Ino said in a lower voice, "Okay, even though this isn't my real body and that you've seen way too many naked girls in your lifetime, I'd still prefer you let me go."

Instead of being released, Ino found her head being turned by Naruko's hand to stare at her face. Time seemed to stand still a lot for Ino whenever she was in this person's presence and at this moment, her attention was on the other's eyes which were on her lips. Nervously she stuttered, "W-what are you-"

She gasped and closed her eyes as soon as Naruko started moving in closer. A ghost of a breath passed over and a kiss was planted onto the side of her lips. Her eyes shot open. "N-Naruko!"

A tinkling laugh answered, "It's not like you tried to pull away." As the laughter died down, the look softened.

"W-what?"

"'Member when I said that you looked cute all the time, even when you're angry?"

A quick flashback and she flushed. "Yes."

"Well," a smile, "that includes when you're embarassed too."

She hated blushing now because it seemed that that was all she could do in life. Hastily turning her head away, she focused on the water rippling around her and therefore could not avoid the ear nip she received. 'She' did not let her ear go right away and Ino could somehow still correctly sense the ever-present smirk on the other's face. When she was released, a tongue licked the side of her neck and she was positive her eyes were about to pop out.

"N-Naruko!" she whispered loudly, "If people were watching us, they'd think we were incestuous lesbians!"

Naruko chuckled lightly, "Then let them." She feathered a kiss where she had previously licked.

"Oi!" cried out Ino while pushing Naruko away with sudden surprising strength. With another burst of energy, Naruko found herself falling on her back into the water with Ino on top. When she surfaced, she heard Ino say, "Stupid idiot!" as she got out and left the springs.

Naruko plopped down on her bum and raised a hand to her head wondering just what she was doing and how badly her idea had turned out. 'This has gotta be from the estrogen boost...'

Upon reaching the room, Ino came to a proverbial fork in the road: What was previously Naruko's bed was now occupied by Sakura whereas their 'shared' bed was now vacant. The plan was rather obvious meaning that Sakura must have done it mostly out of impulse. Sakura had her back to anyone entering the room which made it all the harder for Ino to gauge her emotions as she decided where to sleep. If she were to stay with Sakura for the night, she'd wake up to bruises and possibly vicious bite marks. However, if she were to sleep in the other bed, Sakura would sleep with Naruto. It was that simple. Her feelings were jumbled inside and Ino hated not understanding her emotions.

Deciding to hopefully appease her sister, she resigned to stay in the empty bed, waiting for sleep to take over. She too turned her back to the entrance sending a warding signal to the returning third member. Before sleep could come though, the door opened. A still moment passed before Naruko walked over, much to Ino's chagrin, her bed. A depression formed as Naruko got on and the springs creaked a bit. Sakura was not going to be happy.

Ino turned over just enough so that it'd be easy to quietly converse without being overheard. "What are you doing? Your bed's over there." She stuck her middle finger out and pointed towards the other side of the room.

"But that's the thing, I wanted to talk to you about your idea. That's one of the reasons why we're staying an extra day here." Ino calmed a bit. "I was thinking that a day in town and one evening stop would be good enough before we leave tomorrow night."

"What'll we do?"

"Let the chosen one decide."

Without thinking, and blaming this on being tired, she asked, "Then would you sleep ne-" She hurriedly cut herself short of what she was saying and instead of being angry, Naruko seemed to resume her chuckling habits, albeit more quietly than usual.

"No, only you." And somehow that answer reassured Ino a lot more than it ought to have. Though she wasn't sure of what reassurance she needed. "Anyway, I see your point, I'll stay with Sakura tonight. It'd be just like when we were in Team VII when I snuck into her tent haha." All the reassurance Ino had gained suddenly drained away as Naruko silently transferred beds leaving Ino empty and confused.

The rest of the night passed smoothly but they awoke to the punch-to-the-stomach incident.

"I'm so sorry!" apologized Sakura to the pained Naruko. They had all woken when Naruko cursed out loud at the sudden shock of having a fist implanted into her abdomen. "I really, really am!" Sakura repeated as she went over the entire abdominal section with chakra seeping out from her hands into Naruko's damaged vessels and tissues. These parts were being rectified and Ino stood to the side observing the high-leveled jutsu healing techniques.

The event passed without any other complications and as it was morning, the three soon dressed and were ready to go. Two of them exited the door but the third roughly dragged them back in. "Just what are you guys doing? We're not ready to leave as you should be able to tell. 'Specially you Naruko."

"Ara? But we are ready to go."

"I'd slap you upside the head but I know you need those brain cells. Just look, nothing's pack-"

"We're ready to go but only to town."

Sakura paused at Ino's intrusion and eyed her innocently. "Why are we going to town?"

"Supplies," quipped Naruko. "And a bit of sightseeing for the heck of it." Sakura's slow nod cued the two to once again exit the room and building.

The town was just as lively during the day as it was at night. Roadside stands seemed to have sprouted from the ground overnight and potential customers milled about, chatting and bartering. Children in uniforms ran in groups carrying their knapsacks in one hand and bantered with each other. One knocked a man holding a large basket of apples but laughed and kept running as the old man yelled at the "little rodent!"

Adults roamed the streets and everyone was far too busy to notice that yet another group of travelers had come. The three 'sisters' walked around and eventually did gather their supplies (gauze, rubbing alcohol, energy bars and drinks, etc). They played their parts well too, talking and bickering with one another as siblings do ("I'm prettier than you!"-Naruko. "Well it's not like you're real..."-Ino (whisper). "Exactly, now hurry up lazies!" -Sakura.(1)) It was nearing noon and the beating sun was finally getting to them.

"Ahhhhhh," moaned Naruko as she wiped her forehead, "it's so hot..."

"Quit whining, it's not like _you're_ the one carrying the bags..." muttered Sakura as she glared at her 'sister'. Oddly enough, of the entire group, only Naruko walked empty-handed. "Can we stop somewhere for a bit? At least to grab a bite if not rest."

"If thou wishest it," started Naruko as she gave an elaborate bow, "we shall do whatever you want to do, dear Miss." Sakura sighed giving up on trying to understand what went on inside the head of her 'oneechan'. Instead, she glanced up and down the street and pointed at the small cafe the trio would spend their lunchtime in.

It wasn't too long after that Sakura acknowledged Naruko's absolute seriousness about her becoming the 'leader' for the day. Wherever she said she wanted to go, the other two would follow suit. From entering a fashion and jewellery store to attending a seminar about survival (of which they learned only one thing -some flies over time have disguised themselves as bees-), no one complained or begged her to leave the event.

It was as confusing as ever.

"Okay, what's going on," Sakura finally said at last as the dark night grew in the sky.

"Nothing," replied a playful Naruko, still smiling after the day's ordeals.

"And just why are you guys doing everything I tell you to? Because I get the feeling that if I told you to jump off a bridge, you really would do it."

"Ah, maybe."

At that moment, a piercing off-key voice was heard from a short distance away. "Mi-mi-miracle Mino-run-run!"(2) Sakura's eyes brightened.

"Karaoke!!" she yelled forgetting about the topic. "Come on, let's go! Let's go!" She dragged them by the arms to where the voice sang from but realized upon reaching the place the difference this karaoke lounge was from the norm. There were no private rooms but rather, it was simply one stage with the room set up like a bar. The bartender stayed in a corner with waitresses running about serving their orders, men and women alike sat at the tables pissed drunk or fully awake, and there on stage was the same man whom they heard outside singing his ditty like no tomorrow: tie around the head, and suit completely mussed. They seated themselves.

Rules were written in large, bold letters, posted on both walls beside the stage:  
a) first on, first sing b) if you sing, you're on stage c) you must sing in front of the entire audience (no lounges or private rooms available)  
d) one song per person at a time

Quiet but polite applause was given to the man as he bowed and stepped off the stage wobbling. Someone quickly ran on, beating two others that sulked back to their seats as the crowd cheered, "Cher-ry! Cher-ry! Cher-ry!" And she did look quite like the fruit with the effects from alcohol remarkably visible on her blazing cheeks. She winked in response and chose her pick. The music cued and clapping her hands to the beats, she successfully had everyone else doing the same.

_What 'bout my star?_

"Uwa!!" exclaimed Sakura as she clapped her hands. Her eyes shined and she couldn't help singing along. Ino understood why as this had been a very popular song on the radio back when they were trapped in the brothel. She didn't mind it much and was silently pleased that no other memories popped into her mind.

_Baby doushitai? soujuu handoru gyutto nigitte mou STANDBY want my heart & want my love?  
NO!? nmou! SWING shite KISS!_

_chuuto hanpa na STYLE wa NO buttonjyatteru LOVE nara for me Beautiful! Excuse me!  
hoshitara lala possibilities_

"Ne, what do you think of her oneechan, imouto?" asked Naruko, grinning all the while. Ino-'oneechan' nodded silently as Sakura-'imouto' kept singing along.

_POINT I don't care DOLLARS How much fake POINT futatsu ni hitotsu but ai nara shite_

"Ne, ne, 'neechan, imouto, do either of you wanna go up next?" No answer was given but Sakura's singing seemed to suddenly dim in colour.

_3. Hey, I count down.  
2. Are you ready?  
1. Kakugo wa dou?  
0. Ai, narashite!_

_What 'bout my star?_

_Let me know what you want, I would give you!  
How fantastic to be with you. My love!_

Ino secretively looked at the others only to see Sakura lip-synching the words while watching Naruko, whom in turn had her hand supporting her head as she grinned at Cherry. It was only when she turned away that she missed Sakura glance at her, smileless.

Just before the song ended, Sakura stood up from her seat and firmly grabbed Ino's arm. "Let's go to the washroom, okay?" she said innocently as Ino, startled and worried, too got up to leave. "Oneechan, can you stay to keep our table, please?" Naruko's nod was enough to signal Sakura's departure as she tugged Ino along.

At the restroom, Sakura cornered Ino into a stall and shut the door harshly. "Just what's going on today?" she demanded. Ino blinked stupidly. "Come on, _oneesan_, what's going on between you and Naruko?"

"Hah? What do you mean?" Ino was lost in the dark, unsure as to why Sakura was being so hostile.

Then again, even Sakura wasn't all too sure why she was so irritated at the moment. "Everytime she's talked to us today, she always called your name first before mine." Ino's eyebrows raised in response. "It's always 'Oneechan, imouto', everytime she talks to us. Why is she calling your 'name' first?"

"Eh? Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, I think you're just reading into this too much."

"No I'm not!" she persisted, "What happened between the two of you?"

The onsen flashed past Ino's eyes for a moment but she managed to ignore the incident. "Nothing happened."

"There must have been something! Why have you guys been following everything that I want to do today?"

Ah, so that was what she was referring to. Still, she needed to play along. "No reason, she just said to do that this morning so I followed suit."

"Oh come on, don't give me that. Something's going on and I want to know."

"So you're complaining?"

"What? No! You're avoiding the issue."

"And what is the issue?"

"You! Naruko! Together!" Sakura put out frustratedly for it had been a while since she had been so incoherent, even to herself. She took a breath to calm herself. "I'm convinced something happened between the two of you. What happened last night?"

"Huh?" Ino tried once again to repress the onsen memories but apparently some had escaped onto her cheeks.

"You're blushing! What'd she say to you last night?"

Ino fought down the blush. "Where? When we traveled?"

"No! In bed!"

"But she slept in yours."

"Yeah, but she went to yours first."

"She didn't say anything!"

"Oh come on, just who-"

"'neechan? Imouto?" came Naruko's voice from outside the washroom. "Are you okay?"

Ino waited for Sakura to continue but when she kept silent, Ino pushed her way out of the stall followed closely by a quiet little sister. Outside, Naruko welcomed them back warmly but couldn't help casting a quick careful glance at 'oneesan' as they reseated themselves at their table (that had luckily not been taken for almost all the spaces had been filled by that point).

It came as a surprise when Sakura zipped out of her seat onto the stage as soon as the current singer finished (_'Cause you will hate yourself in the end_(4)). She scrolled incredibly fast through the song lists and found the piece that she believed told all. Two seconds into the song had Ino tensed in her seat, with a stiff back and hands balled into a death clutch. Naruko was about to ask what was wrong when Sakura began to sing. (5)

_I was walking down the street one day  
When I saw you I didn't know what to say  
Your eyes were shining Your smile was so kind  
When I saw you I wanted you to be mine_

Naruko checked Yamanaka once more to only find an empty chair. She blinked her eyes slowly, hoping that the next time she opened them, 'oneechan' would have returned. She didn't. Sakura, on the other hand, had seen her sister leave but kept going.

_Maybe I don't have the blonde hair you like  
Or maybe I don't have eyes like the sky  
And I'm not sure if I'm the girl in your dreams  
But I can show you what love means_

And then it all made sense to Naruko. She settled in her chair, half-listening until Sakura finished. As imouto came off stage, the crowd whistled and clapped for her (since she'd been the first in the past while to actually sing in the correct key). She sat down, content at her performance and turned to ask Naruko how she liked it. Except now she was the only one sitting at the table.

Confused, she jumped out of her chair to look around for the blonde but jerked her head to look at the stage when the crowd erupted once more; Naruko was on stage. She smiled cheekily and ran through the song menu to find her piece. Using the touch screen (and rubbing her fingers clean on her shirt after), she selected a song and waited for the music. But just before it started, she managed to add in, "This song is dedicated to my imouto," and she pointed to where Sakura was sitting. Sakura paused all movements in her seat as the entire room turned around to look at her.

Dinky music began to play through the speakers cueing Naruko's entrance and Sakura's brightening mood.

_Happy birthday to you  
Happy birthday to you  
Happy birthday dear Sa-chan  
Happy birthday to you!_

Sakura clapped and blushed as once again the entire audience turned in their seats to look at her, smiling, giggling, or gesturing. Back on stage, however, the music kept going leaving a flustered Naruko.

"Eh? It's not done? Ahhhhh-eto"  
_How old are you now? (x4)_

And it kept going.

"How long is this freaking song!? Ah"  
_-py birthday to you  
You live in a zoo  
You smell like a monkey  
And you look like one, too._

"Ah mou! I'm not gonna keep singing this!" cried out Naruko, stomping off stage as the music continued playing. The crowd laughed, cheered, and high-fived her as she walked down the center aisle back into her seat. As soon as the song ended, more joyous calls were made when a waitress announced on stage that one round of drinks could be made on the house in honour of 'Sa-chan's' birthday. (Quite the kind and generous karaoke place, really. Mind you, it was also a start-up business. Promotion was needed.)

"Thank you!" called out Sakura as Naruko approached the table. She waved in return and sat back down, glad to not have to keep singing in front of so many people. Eventually, both finished their free bubble teas (strawberry-flavoured to one and papaya-flavoured to the other), listened to a couple more songs, and then left the building after paying their bill.

A few blocks away had Sakura click her tongue out of annoyance. "'Neesan'd better pay her bit when she comes back."

Her statement was met with tartness. "Just where is she exactly?"

And it threw her off. "Eh? Ah, well, when I was singing," she paused slightly, "I think I saw her go to the washroom."

"And we didn't go there before we left because?" Sakura followed Naruko's example and stopped walking. And she also stopped talking. "Let's go back."

As they retracked their footsteps, she couldn't help but ask timidly, "How did you remember my birthday?"

"I didn't." That sent a jolt throughout her body. "Oneechan did." Her nerves seemed to suddenly sag.

"Aa." They kept their speed. "When did she tell you?"

"That time when you were going to the onsen-

_"What are you doing?" asked a confused LG._

_"Ah mouuuu," drawled Naruko putting on a hurt look, "I just wanted to bathe with my sisters."_

_Sakura whipped her wash basket at Naruko's head and hit it square on. Huffing, she gathered her things and stomped off on her way to the hot springs but didn't notice that Ino had stayed behind a moment longer._

_"Anou..." She helped Naruko stand as she spoke, "It's going to be imouto's birthday soon. Actually, it's going to be tomorrow. Could we, perhaps, do something for her?"_

_Naruko replied while rubbing her sore forehead. "Well, anything in mind?"_

_"I'm not all too sure to be honest."_

_"Then why don't we let her choose what she wants to do?"_

_"Eh?"_

_"We'll take her into town tomorrow and do whatever she wants to do."_

_Ino blankly stared at the other blonde before slowly uttering, "Since when were you so smart?" She only received a foxy grin in response._

"-and that's what happened."

Ah... so that's what Sakura had missed between the two. Dejectedly she moved on, foot after foot, memory after memory. By the time they reached the front of the karaoke bar, she resolved that she would apologize but before taking one more step, Naruko pulled her back. "I'll go get her."

"But-"

"I think it's best if I go." Looking at her face, Sakura understood Naruko and stayed outside obediently as the other went in.

Explaining her situation and 'charming' the man at the desk (the woman had left just moments ago due to a mysterious paint bomb explosion placed just beneath her skirt), Naruko got in rather quickly. She hurried to the women's restroom and calmed herself before kicking her way in (just for fun). "Oneechan?" she yelled while eyeing the room. Two women were spotted at the counter fixing their make-up, though they paused at Naruko's outburst, and another just came out of the toilet, unsure of whether to wash her hands or to hide back inside her stall. "Oneechan," she called again while looking under the stalls and finding no other feet there. The third woman washed her hands quickly and booked it out. Naruko continued on unperturbed.

The other two ladies kept watching though. And Naruko took that to her advantage. "Oneechan," she whined once more though it was beginning to sound more like a moan, "come on, I've been waiting so long. Can we _**do**_ it now?" She sensed an aura flash in the far stall and smirked on the inside.

The ladies at the counter flushed hearing such incredulous things from what was a supposed sibling. "You know I've been wanting to since we got here. There's even a crowd outside and you know that's one of my _things_." She groaned/moaned in a way the pair wasn't sure of how to interpret it.

Another aura flash, though it was obvious this time it was if the person was struggling to hold it back. Naruko almost catwalked her way over as she kept talking. "Ah mouuu, oneechan, come on out okay?" She peered at the counter ladies whom immediately stiffened before her. "We've got a mini-auience here, that works right? We can start off small."

The door to the stall was kicked wide open as Yamanaka rushed out, anger coursing throughout her body as she yelled, "Just what do you think you're saying!?" But everything changed when Naruko caught her hips and rammed her into the back wall, trapping her there with her body. Without hesitation, Naruko slipped a leg between her 'oneechan's' making the voyeurs' eyes widen to extreme measures.

Blood rushed away from her face. "W-wait a second Naruko!" squeaked a nervous Ino as Naruko came in closer, effectively sandwiching her between the body and wall. "W-what are you doing?" Naruko edged ever nearer.

Ino shut her eyes tight but after a period of time, nothing happened. Unsure of what was going on, she nervously opened one eye only to see a... freakishly happy smile on the other's face. Both eyes opened as a confused look passed over her face causing Naruko's sudden laughter fit. She roared out loud, a stomach-holding-needing-a-wall-for-balance laugh as she teared and stepped away, moving towards the shocked but still flushed sink-duo.

"Naruko..." was the sole, low-voiced warning before a severe beating followed the next two minutes. "-no baka!(6)" Ino said finally, exhausted from the adrenaline rush. Her fists lowered and she only then realized that they were the only two in the restroom. Looking at Naruko, she felt somewhat pleased at having vented her anger without causing much damage. At least none that were visible.

But then the other got up and quickly stole her hand rushing her out the door. Nothing was said and Ino was simply confused at what was going on. A door seemed to suddenly appear on the left as Naruko pushed her way through the wall into an unlit room. Roughly handling the girl, Naruko threw Yamanaka onto the carpeted ground and quickly crawled on top. Before she had a chance to say anything, Naruko's finger pushed lightly against Yamanaka's lips to keep her quiet. And to that she obeyed. Wordlessly, the finger was replaced and Naruko lightly rubbed the lips with her thumb and for once, Ino completely forgot about her claustrophobia.

Then, suddenly, she was being kissed.

Shock ran through her system but just before she got to say anything, the door opened once again, momentarily blinding her from the hallway light but revealed three figures standing outside.

--

A/N: SUPER LONG CHAPTER. GAH! It is long I believe. I think. Hope.

(1) Dialogue actually came from a fanart on DeviantArt. Just check out: starlight.. Why am I mentioning a fanart? Just because it's well-drawn and is pretty funny heh. Gotta give credit to the maker )  
(2) 'Song' from Minoru-kun in "Lucky Star" (haha! He's awesome)  
(3) This is from Macross Frontier (heeeee) and it's the Sheryl version of "What 'bout My Star"  
(4) "Wind" by Toshiro Masuda, AKA the first ending theme to the actual Naruto anime. :P (5) M2M's "Girl in Your Dreams". This whole 'song fic' came about from this piece, actually. I was on a bus ride two years ago (yeah... this idea's been going on since then...) when I was listening to a friend's iPod and heard the lyrics. The chorus just fit so well with the idea of this fic that I've really been wanting to use it for a long time.  
(6) For the still-discovering, this phrase essentially translates into: "Naruko you idiot!"


End file.
